Greggs to open 160 new branches as bakery chain gives update on prices

GREGGS is set to open up to 160 new branches in the next year, plus it’s issued an update on its prices.

The bakery giant made the announcement as part of its latest results.

It opened a record 220 new shops over 2023, with 33 closures and 42 relocations leaving it with 145 new sites on a net basis and taking its total estate to 2,473.

Now, Greggs has revealed plans to open between 140 and 160 new shops in 2024.

The first eight new locations are opening over the coming weeks in the following areas:

• Within Tesco, Bar Hill in Cambridge
• Chester Road, Mold
• Within Tesco, Ealing in London
• Church Walk Shopping Centre, Walker
• General Rees Square, Cwmbran
• Northenden Road, Sale
• U2 Portland Walk, Barrow-in-Furness
• MFG service station, Hyde Road, Mottram

The remaining locations of the new shops are yet to be confirmed.

The bakery chain is aiming to give customers more convenient access to its stores.

It will continue to look at expanding across retail parks, travel sites and roadside locations, as well as industrial estates.

Greggs also plans to continue rolling out evening opening hours across specific stores.

These extended hours are currently available in around 1,200 shops.

Roisin Currie, chief executive of Greggs said: “We enter 2024 with plans to continue to invest in our shops and expand supply chain capacity.”

Ms Curries also said she has “no plans currently” to increase prices across its ranges.

It comes after the price of its iconic sausage roll shot up from £1.15 to £1.20 in January 2023.

In October 2022 it rose from £1.10 to £1.15 after starting the year at just £1.

Here’s a breakdown of how sausage roll prices have risen in the last few years:

• 2016 – 85p
• 2017 – 90p
• 2021 – £1 
• January 2022 – £1.05
• May 2022 – £1.10
• October 2022 – £1.15
• January 2023 – £1.20

The company said cost pressures were continuing to ease back, with expectations for a “more stable cost base in the coming year”.

Although, she said it would be “a long time before we see deflation” that would allow the group to start reducing prices, with retailers among those facing higher wage bills due to increases in the national living wage.

The firm posted a 9.4% rise in like-for-like sales across its own-managed shops in the fourth quarter.

That’s with comparable store growth of 13.7% overall in 2023, helping send shares up nearly 10% in Wednesday’s early trading.

The final quarter performance marks a slowdown on the 14.2% growth seen in the previous three months, as Greggs said there was less contribution from price inflation.

It also said it continued to see strong demand for vegan options.

The bakery giant recently brought back the vegan steak bake, as well as Christmas ranges, including its festive bake, chocolate orange muffin and Christmas lunch baguette.

Most recently it announced the return of seven items to the UK menu.

The chain has had a bumper year for openings, it recently opened two more 24-hour airport branches, taking its total to six around the UK.

It has also extended the opening hours for around 500 shops to 8pm or later, making it even easier for Greggs fans to get their fix.

Meanwhile, it has at least 17 drive-thru stores across the country and plans to open as many as 10 more.

It has also rolled out a total of 28 concessions inside Tesco and has partnerships with Asda, Sainsbury’s and Primark.

Meanwhile, one shopping expert revealed the items that you should always buy from Greggs and what you should avoid.

If you want to get first dibs on the new products, Greggs top boss also revealed which locations you should visit.

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