Greggs
Corporate brand
UnclaimedA British bakery and food-to-go chain known for sausage rolls, savoury bakes, sandwiches, drinks and value-oriented convenience retail.
Last updated August 21, 2026
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Overview
Greggs plc is a British bakery and fast-food retailer headquartered in the Newcastle upon Tyne area of England. The business began in 1939 when John Gregg established a bakery operation serving the North East. Its first shop opened on Gosforth High Street in 1951, and the company subsequently developed through a combination of regional bakery acquisitions, manufacturing investment and shop expansion. During the 1970s it acquired several local and regional bakery businesses, helping to create a broader national footprint while retaining a strong northern English identity. For much of its early history Greggs was associated with the traditional high-street bakery: bread, cakes, pies, pasties and other baked goods sold for consumption at home or shortly after purchase. The company’s strategy changed significantly in the 2010s. Management concluded that supermarkets made the conventional bread market difficult and that most customer demand was already concentrated in food consumed away from home. Greggs therefore shifted toward an ‘on-the-go’ model focused on breakfast, lunch, snacks, hot drinks and convenient takeaway occasions. Many shops adopted earlier opening hours, later closing times and menus built around portable savoury products, sandwiches, sweet items and coffee. The brand’s best-known product is its sausage roll, supported by other bakes, pasties, breakfast rolls, doughnuts, vanilla slices, sandwiches, soups and hot and cold drinks. Greggs has also broadened its appeal through vegetarian and vegan products, including a vegan sausage roll introduced in 2019. Its proposition is built around accessibility, speed and relatively low prices rather than premium restaurant dining. This positioning has made the chain a familiar presence on British high streets, shopping areas, transport hubs, retail parks and service locations. Greggs operates a vertically coordinated retail and production network, with regional bakeries supplying shops and selected supermarket channels. It has expanded beyond conventional high-street stores into delivery, click-and-collect, drive-through formats and selected convenience locations. It also operates a limited Greggs Outlet format selling surplus, irregular or factory-rejected products at discounted prices. A larger-format coffee-shop experiment, Greggs Moment, was discontinued as the company chose to sell coffee through its standard shops instead. The company became publicly listed in London and has been a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Its national scale has been accompanied by a strong digital and promotional presence, including the Greggs Rewards loyalty app and social-media activity. In 2020 the COVID-19 pandemic forced every shop to close temporarily. Greggs later reopened with reduced menus, altered hours, protective screens, distancing procedures and controlled operational trials; the disruption also led to job reductions. The company has since continued investing in new formats, digital ordering, delivery and store expansion. Greggs remains primarily a United Kingdom business. Its identity combines industrial bakery production with highly visible retail outlets and a mass-market food-to-go proposition. The brand is especially associated with everyday affordability, national familiarity and products that are easy to eat while commuting, shopping or working.
History
John Gregg founded the business in 1939 in Newcastle. The first Greggs shop opened on Gosforth High Street in 1951. After John Gregg died in 1964, control passed to his son Ian, supported by Colin Gregg. The company’s first major factory associated with the Gosforth operation opened on Christon Road in 1968. Greggs expanded rapidly during the 1970s through acquisitions of regional bakeries, including Rutherglen in Glasgow, Thurston’s in Leeds, Broomfields in London, Bowketts in Kent, Tooks in East Anglia and Price’s in Manchester. These transactions helped it move from a regional bakery into a larger multi-region chain. In 1994 it acquired the Bakers Oven shop chain from Allied Bakeries. During the late 1990s and 2000s it progressively brought regional identities under the Greggs name: Braggs shops became Greggs of the Midlands in 1999, while the Thurston chain became Greggs of Yorkshire. In 2008 the Bakers Oven shops were rebranded as Greggs, allowing the whole estate to benefit from common national marketing. The business reached its 1,500th premises in York in 2011. It experimented with larger coffee-led Greggs Moment stores from 2011, but abandoned that format in 2013 and retained coffee as part of its regular shop proposition. The same period brought a more fundamental strategic change. Greggs concluded that supermarkets were difficult competitors in traditional bread and that roughly four-fifths of its activity was already food consumed on the go. It consequently reduced emphasis on loaves and scones in many stores, expanded breakfast and portable meal choices, and adjusted trading hours around commuters and workers. Leadership changed in 2013 when Roger Whiteside replaced Ken McMeikan as chief executive. Greggs also invested in new channels. A delivery trial was announced in 2016, the first drive-through opened near Salford in 2017, and further drive-through sites followed. The company introduced its Greggs Rewards digital loyalty scheme in 2014. In 2016 the head office moved from Jesmond to Quorum Business Park in Longbenton. The brand became particularly prominent in public discussion through its handling of a 2014 Google search-result error. A manipulated image of the Greggs logo appeared with an insulting parody slogan. Greggs responded humorously on social media while asking Google to correct the result, turning a reputational problem into a widely discussed example of informal digital crisis management. Earlier, in 2012, the company had participated in opposition to the proposed extension of VAT to certain hot takeaway foods, an issue commonly called the pasty tax. COVID-19 caused the closure of every Greggs shop on 24 March 2020. Most employees were furloughed. Planned public trials of safety arrangements were reconsidered because of the attention they attracted, and operational testing was conducted more privately. Greggs subsequently reopened hundreds of shops with screens, distancing signs, door staff, reduced hours and a smaller menu, restoring additional products as conditions allowed. In November 2020 it announced 820 job cuts associated with the pandemic’s effects. Roisin Currie became chief executive in 2022. Greggs has continued to develop a national food-to-go network across high streets, transport sites, retail parks, convenience locations and drive-throughs. It has also expanded delivery and click-and-collect availability and sold selected products through Iceland supermarkets. Its current identity is based on scale, speed, recognisable bakery products, accessible pricing and increasingly varied vegetarian and vegan choices.
- 2022
Primark collaboration
[1]Greggs opened a large Birmingham store inside Primark and launched a collaborative clothing range.
- 2020
COVID-19 closure and reopening
[1]All shops closed temporarily, then reopened under new safety procedures and reduced menus.
- 2017
First drive-through opens
[1]Greggs opened its first drive-through at Irlam Gateway Service Station in Salford.
- 2013
Food-to-go strategy adopted
[1]Greggs shifted its main emphasis from conventional bakery retail to food consumed on the go.
- 2011
1,500th premises opens
[1]The company opened its 1,500th premises in York.
- 1994
Bakers Oven acquired
[1]Greggs acquired the Bakers Oven chain from Allied Bakeries.
- 1968
Gosforth factory opens
[1]A major factory opened on Christon Road at Gosforth Industrial Estate.
- 1951
First Greggs shop opens
[1]The first shop opened on Gosforth High Street.
- 1939
Business founded
[1]John Gregg founded the bakery business in Newcastle.
Products and positioning
Mass-market, convenient and value-oriented food-to-go retail, combining bakery manufacturing with quick-service takeaway locations.
Savoury bakery
Sausage roll
Greggs’ signature sausage roll is a portable savoury pastry and one of the products most closely associated with the brand. It represents the company’s core proposition: familiar bakery food prepared for quick takeaway and sold at an accessible mass-market price.
Plant-based savoury bakery · 2019
Vegan sausage roll
The vegan sausage roll is a plant-based counterpart to Greggs’ best-known product. Introduced as part of the company’s effort to broaden its menu, it helped make vegetarian and vegan choices more visible within a mainstream British food-to-go chain.
Savoury bakery
Bakes and pasties
Greggs sells a range of filled pastries, bakes and pasties, including regionally influenced products such as Scotch pies in Scotland. These items extend the chain’s traditional bakery heritage while fitting its modern takeaway and lunchtime model.
Food-to-go
Sandwiches and breakfast products
Sandwiches, breakfast rolls, croissants and pains au chocolat support Greggs’ commuter and workplace occasions. The range reflects the strategic move toward earlier trading, portable meals and food purchased for immediate consumption rather than household bakery shopping.
Sweet bakery
Sweet bakery
Doughnuts, vanilla slices and other sweet pastries form a substantial part of the Greggs menu. They are positioned as inexpensive snacks or accompaniments to drinks and help the chain serve different dayparts beyond breakfast and lunch.
Controversies
2017
Colin Gregg criminal conviction
Colin Gregg, a former company figure associated with the Greggs name and philanthropic activity, was convicted of nine counts of indecent assault and imprisoned. The offences were personal criminal conduct rather than a reported corporate operating practice.
Marketing campaigns
- 2022Greggs X Primark
United Kingdom
Greggs collaborated with Primark on a clothing collection alongside the opening of a large Greggs location within Primark’s Birmingham store.
Outcome. The collaboration generated substantial customer attention and queues at launch.
- 2014Google logo response
United Kingdom · Online
After a manipulated Greggs logo appeared in Google search results, the company used humorous social-media messaging to request correction and offered doughnuts as part of the exchange.
Outcome. The response was widely noted as an effective example of lighthearted social-media crisis handling.
- 2012Pasty tax campaign
United Kingdom
Greggs joined wider opposition to a proposed VAT change affecting some hot takeaway foods. The company argued that the measure could harm employment, investment and high-street shops.
Outcome. The proposal was modified after public and industry opposition.
Brand decisions
2022
Primark store and clothing collaborationProduct launchBackground
Greggs sought to extend its visibility through a partnership with a major British value retailer.
Action taken
It opened a large Greggs site inside Primark Birmingham and released the Greggs X Primark clothing range.
Aftermath
The opening attracted strong public attention and demonstrated the brand’s cultural reach beyond food retail.
2020
Pandemic operating responseStrategyBackground
Government restrictions and COVID-19 safety concerns forced the temporary closure of every Greggs shop.
Action taken
Greggs furloughed most employees, tested safety procedures, reopened with screens and distancing controls, and operated reduced hours and menus.
Aftermath
The company gradually restored products and trading while announcing workforce reductions linked to the pandemic.
2016
Test delivery and click-and-collectOtherBackground
Changing customer expectations created an opportunity to extend Greggs beyond walk-in shop purchases.
Action taken
Greggs began delivery trials in North Tyneside and developed digital ordering and collection options.
Aftermath
Delivery and digital ordering became additional channels alongside the shop estate.
2013
Prioritise food-to-go retailStrategyBackground
Greggs judged that supermarkets created intense competition in traditional bread and that most of its sales already came from food consumed away from home.
Action taken
The company expanded breakfast, sandwiches, snacks and drinks, changed trading hours and reduced the role of bread and scones in many shops.
Aftermath
Greggs increasingly developed as a national convenience and quick-service food-to-go chain.
Recent events
Reported
Greggs opens new shop in Bury[3]
Greggs opened a new shop in Bury on October 30, 2026, creating 18 local jobs.
Reported
Greggs announces plans to shut four factories and cut 740 jobs[4]
UK bakery chain Greggs announced plans to shut four of its factories and cut 740 jobs, closing manufacturing sites at North Lakes near Penrith (Cumbria), Pettigrews in Kelso (Scotland), Seaham (County Durham) and Enfield (Greater London), with the changes taking place over the next two and a half years. Production ranges at Clydesmill Glasgow and Manchester will be reduced, tinned bread production at Gosforth will stop, and some products will be sourced from specialist suppliers. Greggs said its retail shops would not be affected and estimated the shake-up would cost about £60m, including disruption costs and redundancy payments, while saving about £20m across the 2028 and 2029 financial years. The BFAWU union said it was 'deeply concerned' about the announcement, while chief executive Roisin Currie said the proposals are intended to strengthen the manufacturing network and improve efficiency. A consultation with staff is expected to start soon and the company said no final decisions had been made yet.
Reported
Greggs and Primark announce collaboration[5]
Greggs and Primark announced a collaboration combining fashion and food, including a clothing collection and a Tasty by Greggs café planned for Primark’s Birmingham store.
Reported
Greggs and Primark announce Tasty by Greggs café[5]
Greggs and Primark announced a planned 130-seat Tasty by Greggs café at Primark’s Birmingham store, scheduled to open on February 12.
Reported
Greggs names Roisin Currie as next chief executive[6]
Greggs announced that retail and property director Roisin Currie would succeed Roger Whiteside as chief executive in May. The source reports the succession as a future appointment, not as a completed change.
Reported
Greggs announces planned shop staff job and hours cuts[7]
Greggs said it would cut shop staff jobs and hours, and had launched a consultation with union and employee representatives. It said it aimed to minimize job losses by negotiating reduced staff hours; the number of workers who might lose their jobs was not yet known.
Reported
Greggs reopens a small number of stores on a trial basis[8]
Greggs reopened a small number of stores while continuing to trial safety measures.
Reported
Greggs announces plans to reopen stores in stages[9]
Greggs announced plans to reopen a limited number of stores for takeaway and delivery, beginning with a controlled trial of 20 stores in the Newcastle area from May 4, followed by a planned wider reopening from June 8 and a plan to reopen all stores by July 1. These were plans, not reported completed reopenings.
Reported
Greggs announces vegan steak bake rollout[10]
Greggs announced the launch of a meat-free version of its steak bake, with sales planned to begin in 1,300 shops on Thursday and expand to the remaining 700 outlets on 16 January.
Weekdays and relative dates follow the original report; their exact calendar dates have not been verified.
Sources13 sources
- 1Greggsen.wikipedia.org
- 2Greggs corporate websitegreggs.co.uk
- 3Greggs在伯里开设新门店burytimes.co.uk
- 4Greggs宣布计划关闭四家工厂并裁减740个岗位bbc.co.uk
- 5Greggs 与 Primark 宣布合作maldonandburnhamstandard.co.uk
- 6Greggs宣布Roisin Currie将接任首席执行官rte.ie
- 7Greggs宣布计划削减门店员工岗位和工时financialpost.com
- 8Greggs试行重新开放少量门店echo-news.co.uk
- 9Greggs宣布分阶段重开门店计划newarkadvertiser.co.uk
- 10Greggs宣布推出纯素牛排酥饼theguardian.com
- 11Could Suffolk see more Greggs?eadt.co.uk
- 12Greggs has just opened its 33RD shop in Newcastle - and 15 jobs have been createdthenorthernecho.co.uk
- 13Greggs to cut 740 jobs and close factoriesbbc.co.uk
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