Partner Article

Mince pies make dough for bakery chain

North East bakery chain Greggs has revealed that Christmas helped it to end 2009 on a high note, with more than a million mince pies sold each week of the festive period.

Comparative sales during the four weeks to December 26 grew 1.1%, while Christmas week was described as a “very strong performance” with a 4.4% increase.

Greggs said the snowy weather had presented challenges, and praised staff for keeping shops open.

The firm, which plans to open 50 to 60 new stores this year as part of an “accelerated” expansion programme, said the overall trading environment remained difficult.

Same-store sales for the financial year as a whole increased by 0.8% and the company said it expects annual results to be in line with forecasts.

In Christmas week itself, the firm said it served 250,000 more customers than last year.

Chief executive Ken McMeikan said he was pleased with the firm’s sales performance in a challenging time for the high street.

He said: “We remain positive about our growth opportunities as we begin our programme of accelerated expansion to make the unique Greggs proposition accessible to many more consumers throughout the UK.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .