Bakery chain Greggs looks at Ireland

GREGGS, Britain’s biggest bakery chain, is looking to expand into the Irish market.

The company said it is looking for opportunities in the Irish market but has no timescale in place yet for expansion plans here.

A spokesman for the company said whilst the focus of the company now is on Britain they will continue to look at opportunities in Ireland going forward.

Last week Greggs said first-half profit rose 13% after it added more stores and increased sales of meal deals.

Net income for the 26 weeks ended July 3 rose to £13m million (€15.9m) from £11.4m (€13.9m), a year earlier, the Newcastle, England-based company said. Revenue rose 2.9% to £321.3m €392m).

Greggs said it is adding stores to expand outside its traditional city-centre sites into locations such as industrial estates, airports and rail stations.

The company opened 26 new outlets and closed eight, giving a total of 1,437. Sales of meal deals more than doubled with over two million sold in the period.

Chief executive officer Ken McMeikan said: “We hope to provide more value meal deals for our customers in UK as the pressure on disposable income continues to increase.”

Greggs will see “pressure on the trading environment” due to an increase in wheat prices in the second half of the year, Mr McMeikan said.

“The price of wheat is over-inflated at the moment and we hope it comes down to normal levels,” he said. “We bought wheat stocks at lower prices in advance to last us till the end of this year.”

Greggs introduced a breakfast roll offer in February, with 4.5 million sold in the first half, helping to boost sales in its quieter morning period.