The company was founded by William Jackson (1828–1912), who was born in Elstronwick and opened his first shop at 28 Scale Lane in Hull in 1851.

[1][3] The company developed a process for commercially producing Yorkshire puddings in 1968.

[3] In 1974, Butlin's leisure company asked the bakery to create a Yorkshire pudding for its holiday camps which led to the development of the Aunt Bessie's brand as of 2016[update] producing 20 million Yorkshire puddings a week.

[5] The company acquired Abel & Cole in 2012 and The Food Doctor in 2016.

[7] The company's businesses include Abel & Cole (organic food delivery), Jacksons (bakery), MyFresh (vegetable processing), The Food Doctor (snacks), Wellocks (supplier to the restaurant industry) and the Ferguson Fawsitt Arms in Walkington (pub-restaurant).