The outgoing CEO of food-on-the go firm Greggs has hailed strong trading at the start of the year – but warned that price increases are ‘inescapable’.
The Newcastle headquartered business, which now has 2,224 shops across the UK, reported a 27.4% rise in like-for-like sales growth for the first 19 weeks of the year, a strong figure which compares against the same period in 2021 during restricted trading conditions.
The company said that like-for-like sales growth in the most recent ten weeks to May 14 – when lockdowns in 2021 were easing – has averaged 15.8% and it expects this figure to continue to normalise as it starts to compare with more robust trading periods last years. Total sales in the 19 weeks to May 14 were £495m, up from £378m.
