Our Team

Island Bakery would be nothing without its fabulous team. There are about 30 of us working hard to bring Mull’s best biscuits to you. Everyone plays an essential part in ensuring a steady supply of biscuits from Tobermory to the world! Below are the people you might talk to if ringing us - but the people who do the real work are our fantastic squad of biscuiteers, mixing, baking and chocolate dipping.

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  Joe Reade (Taster-in-Chief)

  Joe moved to Mull from Somerset with his family at the tender age of 12. When he isn’t making sure that the biscuits are baking nicely, he likes nothing more than going on an ‘adventure’, either on his bike, or out on a rickety boat. You may also recognise him as the inspiration for the Pilsbury Dough Boy, and if you poke him in the tummy he lets out an involuntary giggle.

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  Dawn Reade

  Dawn grew up in Belfast, and bumped into Joe in Edinburgh where they were students. She allowed Joe to talk her into coming back to Mull with him to start the bakery, because she really likes cake. She looks after the bakery’s social media and marketing, as well as packaging design and generally making things look nice. She has the sort of Belfast accent that infers 'don't mess with me', and therefore we all behave in her presence.

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  Cathy Mellor

  Cathy came to know Mull as a regular visitor for the annual Tour of Mull Car Rally that brings hundreds of visitors to drive noisy cars around the island every October. As well as knowing her Subarus from her Mini Coopers, she is also our Technical Manager, which means she has to eat biscuits every day to check they are as tasty as they should be.

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  Fiona Aitali

  Fiona is the only person in the business who actually has official baking qualifications and is therefore responsible for many things, including the development of tasty new biccies. She is also our longest-standing employee, having started with us in 1994 making amazing cakes and baking tasty bread.

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  Mariusz Talarek

  After a hectic and danger-filled career as a moustachioed plumber-come-kart-racer, Mario retired to the Isle of Mull to take up biscuit making as our Production Manager. Although nothing quite beats the thrill of the rainbow road, his knees just weren't up to bouncing on mushrooms and tortoises any more.

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  Denise Baxter

  Denise is our fresh faced new Top Gun Commercial Manager, a role she performs by time-travel from the 1980s where she is still performing as the fourth member of The Bangles. If its a colourful spreadsheet or a rendition of Walk Like An Egyptian you need (complete with actions), she is the woman to ring.

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  Lynn Peden

  Lynn is Dawn’s little sister. She uses her big brain to keep the bakery accounts running, and act as back-up memory bank to Joe's brain. Lynn is also an adventurer, having been known on one occasion to venture as far as Lochdon. She is currently fund raising for an expedition to Iona, but first needs to establish a base camp in Fionnphort with ample gin supplies.

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  Robert Crumlish

  Robert is a very talented singer, and performs at home and away. He likes to share his talents with us. All. The. Time. Robert also runs a mobile roller-disco in his free time, and has a prized collection of tartan socks that he keeps in his dressing-up drawer. He left us for pastures new in early 2023, but we're keeping his picture here because we're still sad and miss him....

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  Tom McGuire

  Tom is our Engineer, and keeps all our machines ticking over. When he's not stripping down a mixer he likes nothing more than to float on his back in Tobermory bay cracking open molluscs that he balances on his little round belly and hits with a stone. He brings a fresh one-liner to work every day, that he deploys to distract attention from his bright ginger hair.

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  Paul Peden

  Keeping things in the family, Paul is Lynn’s husband, and our delivery driver. Before taking up biscuit delivery, Paul had a successful career as a stage hypnotist that ended in unfortunate circumstances and a protracted legal battle with a lady from Dundee who can no longer eat anything apart from Marmalade.

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  John Norman

  John is our dedicated warehouse wrangler and forklift racer. A man of few words (except when conscious), he can be hired in the evenings to put babies to sleep, and is happy to have any cold-calls from double glazing or electricity salespeople diverted to his mobile for a lengthy chat. His phone number is 0755 555 555.