Greggs takes ‘difficult’ decision to axe a quarter of its UK bakeries
High Street bakery chain Greggs is to take the axe to three of its 12 UK bakery sites as it seeks to rationalise production at fewer sites with increased capacity – although its 1,700 retail outlets will remain unaffected.
The £100m move is designed to streamline the pastie maker’s logistics and will result in the loss of 355 jobs at sites in Edinburgh, Twickenham and Sleaford, Lincolnshire which have been deemed to be ‘unsuitable for long-term investment due to their location and size.’
Announcing the plan chief executive Roger Whiteside said: "These are difficult changes that we believe are needed to support the long-term growth of the business."
Despite this shake up Greggs is still on track to increase its High Street presence to 2,000 stores as it seeks to capitalise on Britain’s rampant ‘food to go’ market, estimated to be worth £6bn a year.
This strategy seems to be paying off with profits up 25 per cent to £73m in the year to 2 January with toatal sales up 5 per cent to stand at £835.7m.