Greggs was once the place to go during an office lunch break, grabbing a pasty or sandwich on the go. But recently a spell of poor sales has sparked the company to take drastic action.
For the 26 weeks leading up until 29 June 2013, like-for-like sales were down by 2.9 per cent, which saw a fall in profits of £4.6 million when compared to the same the period last year. However, despite the fall in profits, sales were actually up by 3.4 per cent compared to 2012.
The company is also going through an expansion and has already open 19 new commercial units, with plans to open 20-30 by the end of the year. Shops refits are also underway, with 90 being completed so far out of the 220-240 that they plan to do before 2014. But although they opened new shops this year, they did in fact close more.
Speaking of change needed to bring Greggs back to the top, Roger Whiteside, Chief Executive of Greggs said: “Greggs is a strong brand that has the ability to grow shareholder value over the long term. Our focus for the future will be on winning in the growing food on the go market.”
To do this, the company plans a reshape in strategy. They plan to focus on the ‘food on the go’ market, which is what they do best. They also plan to open more establishments and increase franchise opportunities and accelerate their refit programme.
Roger continued: “We will spend the next two to three years reshaping the business as we build the platform for long term sustainable profit growth for the benefit of shareholders, employees and the wider community.”
But with the likes of Pound Bakery, can Greggs survive? Greggs plans to introduce an electric loyalty card called ‘Greggs Rewards’, but is it too little too late to keep customers loyal when there are so many other options to get food on the go?
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