Greggs to open 100 new stores after £14m loss

GREGGS sank to the first loss in its 37 years as a listed firm – but vowed to bounce back with hundreds of new stores.

Reporting an annual loss of £13.7m for 2020, the sausage role specialist said it will open 100 more stores this year with the creation of 1,000 jobs.

It has 2,078 shops, and wants to expand to 3,000 – making it more than twice the size of McDonald’s in the UK.

Greggs will open sites in petrol forecourts, with franchise partner EG Group, and retail parks, and look at opening ‘half a dozen’ sites in the City of London, thanks to the collapse in rents. Bosses said the plans mean the chain was ‘well placed to participate in the recovery from the pandemic’.

Shares in the company, which was founded in 1939 and joined the stock market in 1984, rose 3.pc, or 68p, to 2278p.

Greggs bakeries were shut for the first lockdown, but since then stores have opened for takeaways and it has rolled out delivery with Just Eat from 600 sites. Delivery options have brought new customers and ‘extraordinary’ takings.

Store sales remain depressed because of the substantial fall in people heading to city centre locations and travel hubs.

The company reported sales of £811.3m in the 53 weeks to January 2, down from £1.2bn in 2019.

The annual loss of £13.7m – compared to profits of £108.3m the previous year – was flattered by £108.3m of Government support. Greggs did not declare a dividend.

Chief executive Roger Whiteside said: ‘When things go back to normal people will want to leave the house, and wherever they go they’ll find a Greggs there when they’re hungry. The opportunity for us has always been to grow away from high streets. We can’t predict where things will go but we’ll cope with whatever is thrown at us.’