Greggs is the largest bakery chain in the UK, famed for its sausage rolls.
Founded by John Gregg in 1939, the first shop opened in Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne, in 1951. Since the 1970s, the bakery began to acquire other regional bakery chains across the country, including acquiring its rival Bakers Oven in 1994.
Greggs now has close to 2,000 locations across the UK and employs around 22,000 employees.
Its best-selling product is the sausage roll, selling 2 million units a week. In January 2019, Greggs launched a vegan sausage roll to huge popularity and success, resulting in sales topping £1bn for the first time.
In 2013, Greggs started to transition out of the bakery market, instead targeting the ‘food on the go’ market that was accounting for 80% of its business. Having stores open earlier and close later meant it could target those going to and from work, and the company expanded its breakfast menu to suit consumers’ changing food habits.
It stopped selling bread in 2014 but started a loyalty scheme app called Greggs Rewards that same year. The company also sells bakes, melts and pasties through the supermarket chain Iceland.
Beloved UK high street baker Greggs has been hit hard by lockdown store closures and changing customer behaviours. Retail Week analyses how the business is future-proofing itself
Greggs has swung to a full-year loss following a slump in sales during the coronavirus pandemic.
Grocery giant Sainsbury’s has unveiled a new brand slogan set to launch in the spring, while fellow food retailer Greggs has revealed a new sustainability plan.
Food-on-the-go specialist Greggs has warned that profits will not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2022 “at the earliest”.
Food-to-go giant Greggs has made 820 redundancies across the business with boss Roger Whiteside warning the “battle with Covid hasn’t gone away”.
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