Sales on the up at Greggs

Bakery chain Greggs today revealed rising sales as customers want a bargain in the recession. Its 99p sandwiches proved a hit consumers.

Like-for-like sales rose by 4.4 per cent in 2008 – although profits dropped by 3.3 per cent to £45.2 million.

The bakers revealed plans to continue expanding on its 1,400 UK shops to take advantage of customers looking for a bargain snack.

It said today that its sales for 2009 were hit by snow that brought chaos to the West Midlands and other parts of the country.

Sales since January have risen by one per cent s but that figure rose to 2.9 per cent if two weeks of weather disruption are excluded.

Greggs said it plans to expand its "food to go" offering and wants to open more shops near where people work or travel, in locations away from the traditional high street, such as industrial estates, business parks, airports and bus stations.

With the average spend per customer at around £2, Greggs hopes it can weather economic troubles.

The group, employing 19,000, is more than two years into a three year plan to raise its profile and unify the business under the Greggs brand. It will pull out of a loss-making Belgium operation and rebrand its UK Bakers Oven shops.