Food-on-the-go-chain Greggs has announced plans to double its turnover and open more shops than ever, as well as investigating its first overseas sites.
The plans from the Newcastle company have been revealed in a quarterly trading update in which it said its two-year like-for-like sales had risen 3.5%, boosted in part by more people staying in the 海角视频 during the summer holiday period.
It admitted that it had been affected by the widely reported staffing and supply chain issues hitting many parts of the 海角视频 economy but said it expected its full-year results to be ahead of previous expectations.
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And in an ambitious strategic plan for the next five years, Greggs said that it wanted to double its turnover to £2.4bn and would accelerate its shop opening rate to 150 a year to target a 海角视频 store estate of at least 3,000 shops.
It is also investigating the opening of Greggs overseas for the first time, and wants to have at least 500 of its stores open until 8pm to capitalise on evening trading.
The company said: “Despite widely reported disruption to staffing and supply chains, it is a credit to our teams that Greggs has continued to trade well over the third quarter with two-year like-for-like sales in company-managed shops rising by 3.5% when compared with the same period in 2019.
“Growth was particularly strong in August when a ‘staycation’ effect was evident and remained in positive territory in September, with two-year like-for-like growth of 3.0% in the four weeks to October 2. Delivery sales have continued to develop well, with 943 shops now involved in supplying customers through this channel.
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“The broadening of our vegan-friendly food and drink options has been well received, notably the limited edition ‘Vegan Sausage, Bean & Cheeze Melt’ along with a ‘Vegan Ham & Cheeze Baguette’ and a vegan-friendly breakfast sausage.
“Pizza and savoury boxes are supporting the delivery channel and our autumn menu is now available in shops, featuring favourites such as pumpkin spiced latte and spooky bats and buns for Halloween.”
So far this year, Greggs has opened 84 new shops and closed 16, taking its estate to 2,146 sites. New openings in the last three months have included three drive-thrus and Greggs’ first site in London’s Canary Wharf. The company expects to have around 100 more stores during 2021, around half of which will be in association with franchise partners.
But it warned that it had “not been immune to the well-publicised pressures on staffing and supply chains and we have seen some disruption to the availability of labour and supply of ingredients and products in recent months”. It said the food prices were also increasing, though it did not say whether those costs would be passed on to the customer.
Greggs has compared quarterly sales to the same period in 2019, as widespread lockdowns and store closures means last year’s figures are not comparable.
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