Greggs has set its sights on conquering Britain’s high streets – by opening 160 new branches and updating its prices.
It comes as the bakery giant made an announcement as part of its latest results which included a record number of new stores opened last year.
Greggs opened 220 new shops over 2023, closed 33 and had 42 relocations which left it with a net gain of 145 outlets.
Now, bakery chain, which has 2,473 locations, has announced plans to open between 140 to 160 new shops in 2024.
The exact locations of the new outlets is not yet known by the brand, which is synonyms with sausage rolls, but said they plan to give customers more convenient access to its stories.
Greggs opened 220 new shops over 2023, closed 33 and had 42 relocations which left it with a net gain of 145 outlets
Now, bakery chain, which has 2,473 locations, has announced plans to open between 140 to 160 new shops in 2024
The exact locations of the new outlets is not yet known by the brand, which is synonyms with sausage rolls
The chain will continue to target retail parks, travel sites and roadside locations in their expansion plans.
Greggs will also continue to roll out evening opening hours in specific locations – which are available in 1,200 shops currently.
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 Currie added there are ‘no plans currently’ to increase their prices.
In January last year, the price of their sausage roll shot up from £1.10 to £1.15 after it was priced just £1 at the start of 2022.
In relation to their prices update, Greggs said there are expectations for a ‘more stable cost base in the coming year’ as inflation begins to ease.
However, Ms Currie added that it would be ‘a long time before we see deflation’, which would allow the group to start reducing prices as retailers are among those facing higher costs due to increases in the national living wage.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, the sausage roll firm posted a 9.7 per cent rise in like-for-like sales and an overall growth of 13.7 per cent for the whole of last year.
These results saw the shares rise by almost 10 per cent in Wednesday’s early trading.