Greggs plans to open 100 new stores as the bakery chain returns to profit following the Covid-19 pandemic

High street bakery chain Greggs has said that it plans to open around 100 new stores by the end of the year after a rebound in sales helped turn the company to profit.
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Greggs said it has an opportunity to grow to 3,000 stores across the country as it struck an ambitious tone after withstanding the impact of the pandemic.

The high street bakery told investors that the recovery in trade in recent months was “stronger than we had anticipated” as it saw strong trade in suburban areas and local high streets.

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Now the chain is targeting growth areas such as delivery and drive-thru sales after the pandemic weighed on some core trade such as its travel sites.

Greggs has announced plans to open 100 new stores after the chain returns to profile following the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: PA.Greggs has announced plans to open 100 new stores after the chain returns to profile following the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: PA.
Greggs has announced plans to open 100 new stores after the chain returns to profile following the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: PA.

Greggs said its like-for-like sales for the four weeks to the end of July were 0.4% above the levels it saw in the same period in 2019, before the pandemic struck – with the company previously warning that profits wouldn’t return until 2022.

The North East based business said it now expects full-year profits to be “slightly ahead” of previous predictions as a result.

Greggs had 2,115 locations at the start of July and said it is targeting 100 net openings for the current year to continue its strong growth plans.

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Roger Whiteside, chief executive of Greggs, said: “Greggs once again showed its resilience in a challenging first half, emerging from the lockdown months in a strong position and rebuilding sales as social restrictions were progressively relaxed.

“Whilst there continue to be general uncertainties in the market, given our recent performance we now expect full-year profit to be slightly ahead of our previous expectation.”

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It is understood that Greggs is expected to create around 500 news jobs over the course of the second half of the year.

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New openings have helped to buoy its total sales over the half-year to June to £546.2 million, to just short of the £546.3 million it posted in the same period in 2019.

The group saw like-for-like sales drop 9.2% against 2019 after the impact of the third national lockdown but it was lifted by the opening of 48 new sites.

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