Bakery chain Greggs is to increase its prices from Thursday as it grapples with increased employment costs.
The price of a two-item breakfast deal will rise from £2.95 to £3.15 as the chain’s chief executive, Roisin Currie, said the “big cost” it had to factor in this year was employment.
The three-item breakfast deal will also go up 20p, from £3.95 to £4.15.
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Gregg’s empire biscuit will also be 5p more expensive.
It comes as Ms Currie said Greggs’s wage bill increased due to minimum wage rises and “surprise” higher employers’ national insurance contributions, which cost the business £20m.
The outlook for further cost pressures on the company was uncertain as Ms Currie said Greggs was “still doing some work” on inflation projections and didn’t know about potential further national living wage rises.
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“Without those [upped staffing cost] factors, the outlook improves.”
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“We do our best to keep prices as low as possible,” she added.
Budget wishes
Looking ahead to the upcoming November budget, Ms Currie said: “What’s not helpful are surprises.”
For any changes taking place, she said she wanted “reasonable notice and good lead time”.
The government, she added, need to be “attuned to pressure on people’s incomes”.
“It’s tough out there,” she said, as consumers continue to feel squeezed.
“Even when people have disposable income, they’re saving and when they’re spending, they’re spending wisely.”
New shops
Despite costs going up and sales growth slowing, Greggs is looking to expand.
It’s on the lookout to open new locations, particularly in travel hubs (like train or bus stations and airports), in spots like petrol stations, supermarkets, retail parks and south England.
There’s “lots of opportunity” for Greggs in such sites, Ms Currie said.
It expects around 120 net new shop openings this year.
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It operates more than 3,000 shops across the UK.
