Greggs To Reopen All Stores By End Of The Month

In good news for anyone who loves a steak bake or vegan sausage roll, Greggs is reportedly reopening all of its stores by the end of the month.

The popular bakery chain will initially reopen 800 UK branches on June 18, followed by the remaining 1,250 by 1st July.

In response to the coronavirus crisis, Greggs has made a number of changes to its stores to ensure the safety of its staff and customers.

Those changes include a streamlined menu and one-way systems within chains, with only four customers allowed inside at any one time.

New hygiene and safety 'operational' measures are also in place keep customers and staff safe.

As yet, it's unclear which chains will be the first to reopen, and which will pull up their shutters later in the month - so stay tuned for further updates.

The news comes as earlier this month Greggs began trialling a limited menu to walk-in customers in Newcastle and other areas in the North East.

Bosses at the bakery chain said the pilot project in Tyneside had "progressed well", providing a template to get further stores up and running.

WikiCommons)

In a statement, Greggs chief executive Roger Whiteside said: "We plan to start preparing and opening more shops nationwide from around the 18 of June and we're currently in the process of selecting around 800 shops to reopen, this will initially include approximately 150 franchise shops."

He continued: "All shops will open with our new tested operational measures in place. And although they will open with a reduced range, this will be a significant step in us helping the nation get back up and running and serving the communities that we operate in."

"We'll continue to look for the best ways to serve customers whilst keeping everyone safe, and as long as we can continue to do this, the final phase in our plan is to open all shops with our new operational measures in place by July 1," he added.

Greggs closed all of its 2,050 stores on 24^th March after the UK went into lockdown.

WikiCommons)

The chain withdrew initial plans to reopen 20 locations on 4th May over fears that the popularity of the chain might lead to overcrowding outside stores.

Not long to wait till we can purchase that long-awaited sausage roll in person.

Topics: Greggs, lockdown, Tasty Food, Food And Drink

Mary-Jane Wiltsher

Mary-Jane Wiltsher is a freelance lifestyle and culture journalist. Elsewhere she writes for Stylist, Euronews, PHOENIX and What We Seee.