£18m bonus pot baked in for Greggs workers
GREGGS is awarding its employees nearly £18million in annual bonuses – worth an average of £760 each – after it posted record full-year profits of £188.3million.
Sales climbed 19.6% to £1.8billion due to the popularity of steak bakes, sausage rolls and other affordable treats.
And the High Street favourite’s pretax profits for the 12 months to December 30 rose 27%.
Greggs’ stunning results have also been put down to higher breakfast sales, later opening hours and increased delivery and click and collect orders.
They also reflect the bakery chain opening a record 220 shops in 2023, taking its estate to 2,473 and creating 4,000 jobs. It employs 32,000 in total.
As a result, Greggs will pay staff a record £17.6million in bonuses for 2023, an increase of £1million on the previous year. Awards will be made to employees with at least six months’ service.
Chief executive Roisin Currie said: “Whether in our shops, our manufacturing sites, our distribution network or in Greggs House, our teams stepped up to make sure we kept pace with the increased customer demand.” It also means increased returns for shareholders. Greggs is hiking its final dividend from 44p per share to 46p and will also pay a special one-off dividend of 40p for a payday of £87.9million to investors.
Ms Currie said the company is on track to deliver its five-year plan to double sales by 2026 and will look to open up to 160 further stores this year.
Elsewhere, Ocado and M&S were the fastest-growing supermarkets, with sales growth of 12.2% and 11.9% respectively for the 12 weeks to February 24, according to market researcher NIQ.
Meanwhile, Tesco has increased its average hourly pay by £1 to £12.02.The national living wage is currently £10.42 and will rise to £11.44 in April.