A familiar name makes a return to the Bouet

Wednesday 06 June 2018

The Warry's name and logo is back where it used to be, positioned along the Grand Bouet - but it's not on a bakery this time.

The famous name and the red logo has been used at the entrance to the housing development which has been built on the site of the former bakery which closed in 2013.

Before then, the people who lived in the area around the Grand Bouet would have experienced the familiar smell of bread baking every day. As well as the loaves sold daily, there was warm bread in all Island Wide Shoppers and other stores on a Sunday, and Guernsey Gache, Swansea buns and other delicacies produced weekly.

The bakery, which for years was run by the Warry family, was sold to Sandpiper CI which eventually made the decision to close it. At the time of the closure in 2013, the company said competition with imported bread from the UK made it impossible to continue. Cost cutting measures aimed at keeping one of the few bakeries in Guernsey open failed to prevent the eventual closure. 

Pictured: Part of the statement issued when Warry's closed. It can be read in full here. 

When the bakery was closed, media coverage at the time included reports of members of the Warry family being allowed to keep the famous red Warry's logo which had adorned the building for generations. 

Now that logo is back in the Bouet, adorning the walls on both sides of the entrance to the housing development which replaced the bakery of the same name.

The properties in the new housing development have been built by the Guernsey Housing Association and they include some social housing and some available for partial ownership.

While the final building work is still ongoing, with finishing touches being put to the development complex, the GHA has invited the public to view "several properties at its newly completed Warry’s development off the Grand Bouet," this Saturday, 9 June between 10:00 and 12:00. There will be parking at the development site for 40 vehicles so the GHA would encourage those interested "to try to minimise car use."

The GHA said the homes are part of the island's partial ownership scheme, "which is a form of tenure that allows first time buyers to purchase between 40 and 80% of a home, with the remaining equity being held by the GHA and rented to the occupant at a discounted rate."

The scheme, which is designed to help those who may not be able to purchase their own home otherwise, has been running in Guernsey for some years, with partial ownership properties already at a number of locations including at the Bouet, Brock Road and Cour du Parc among them. 

The 20 properties at Warry’s have already been allocated so while they are not available for applicants currently, the GHA said a one-bedroom apartment, two-bedroom house and two-bedroom bungalow will all be open for public viewing on Saturday.

Anyone interested in applying for the first-time buyer partial ownership scheme should complete the GHA’s application form which is available at gha.gg or call 245530. The waiting list is currently around two years "depending on the type of property and location required."