Sunak’s recipe not for Greggs
BAKERY CHAIN SPURNS JOB AID PLAN
PASTRY chain Greggs is expected to widely snub Chancellor’s Rishi Sunak’s new Job Support Scheme.
The initiative, which replaces the coronavirus furlough scheme from November, involves the taxpayer subsidising workers’ wages.
But critics have argued it requires employers to cough up too much of the remaining pay.
Greggs suggested yesterday that the scheme was unlikely to alter its proposals, announced previously, to slash thousands of workers’ hours, with some job losses expected.
Boss Roger Whiteside said the Chancellor’s new scheme did not have the same “broad application”.
Greggs said it needed to cut wage costs because stores were still quieter than normal. Sales had picked up to about three-quarters of pre-crisis levels this month and the firm had reintroduced more products, including its popular Belgian buns. But the latest wave of local lockdowns, including across the north of England, is believed to have dented trade again. In a trading update, Greggs said: “The outlook for trading remains uncertain, with rising Covid-19 infection rates leading to increasing risks of supply chain interruption and further restrictions on customer activities out of the home.” The firm is set to restart its store opening programme after pausing it during the lockdown. All 20 new branches due by the end of the year will be easily accessible by car, after the pandemic triggered a slump in people commuting by train.