Greggs enlists Nigella Lawson to star in its first Christmas ad

Greggs has enlisted celebrity chef and cookbook author Nigella Lawson to star in its first-ever Christmas ad, which sees her enthusing over the high street chain’s festive food.

Lawson, known for her indulgent recipes and eloquent cooking programmes, is featured returning to her home decorated with fairy lights and a Christmas tree bedecked with Greggs baubles, before describing the “rapturous riot of flavour” of the chain’s “festive bake” pastry.

She says: “Succulent filling, creamy sauce, all wrapped up in the flakiest of flaky pastries, in one or both hands, say hello to the Greggs festive bakes,” before taking a bite of one.

In the final scene, the camera pans across a kitchen table laden with items from the Greggs Christmas menu, before landing on a platter of vegan festive bakes.

Reports in recent days suggest that, despite starring in the ad, Lawson had declined to endorse the chain’s well-known sausage rolls.

However, Greggs said the reports were “inaccurate”, adding that the campaign with Lawson was to promote the Christmas menu, and she had never been asked to endorse its sausage rolls.

Lawson said: “As a longtime fan of Greggs, and especially their sausage rolls, I’m thrilled to be collaborating with them to celebrate the return of the iconic Christmas menu.

“Greggs brings joy wherever and whenever you choose to enjoy it, and I’m delighted to be sharing this with the nation this Christmas.”

Lawson has won legions of followers since her first cookbook How To Eat in 1998 through to 2020’s Cook, Eat, Repeat, and their accompanying television shows.

Greggs has revealed its sales jumped by more than a 10th in recent weeks as the chain continued its UK expansion.

It has opened more than 150 shops this year, and had nearly 2,560 stores serving its baked goods across the country as of the end of September.

Last month, it launched its first champagne bar in which customers can pair the finest bottles with a menu of bakes and rolls.

The bar opened in Fenwick’s Newcastle store on October 24 and will remain open until the end of December, offering bottles ranging from a £10 glass of Ca’ di Alte Prosecco to a £75 glass of Louis Roederer Cristal – also available by the bottle for £425.

It follows the first Greggs “fine dining” bistro at the same location last year, which served its popular festive bake alongside duck fat roasties, smoked pancetta, chestnuts and sprouts to more than 8,000 customers over a single month.

This year’s festive menu will be in Greggs outlets nationwide from Thursday.