Greggs to give £7m special payment to employees, cites ‘record' financial performance
The bakery chain expects profit will be slightly higher than previous expectations.
Greggs announced that it will also be making a £7m special additional payment to all of their colleagues across the business as it reports higher sales due to its traditional ranges and vegan-friendly sausage.
"All of our colleagues will share in a one-off payment costing £7 million which will be paid at the end of January," chief executive Roger Whiteside said in a trading update.
The bakery chain says total sales were up 13.5% in the 52 weeks ended 28 December 2019 compared to 7.2% in the previous period.
Company-managed shop like-for-like sales rose 9.2% compared to 2018’s 2.9%.
“As we enter the new year, we have added to our vegan-friendly menu with the launch of our 'Vegan Steak Bake' and our first vegan doughnut. In the year ahead we will continue to evolve our range to suit a broad variety of dietary choices,” Whiteside added.
138 shops opened in the 2019 financial year, whilst 41 stores were closed. As of 28 December 2019, there are 2,050 shops trading.
Whiteside adds that they expect to scale up “successful” elements of their trials in the extension of trading hours and by making delivery “more widely available.”
“Given the strength of trading in the latter part of 2019 the Board now expects that full year underlying profit before tax, after the cost of the special payment to employees, will be slightly higher than our previous expectations when we report our preliminary results for 2019 on 3 March 2020,” he said.
