Greggs targets 3,000 UK sites as sales rise but profits hit

Greggs sees a “clear opportunity” to exceed 3,000 UK shops over the long term as its total sales rose 6.8% in 2025.

The bakery chain completed 121 net openings in 2025, growing the estate to 2,739 shops as at 27 December 2025, comprising 2,137 company-managed shops and 602 franchised units.

It is targeting a further 120 net openings this year, stating it has “a strong pipeline of attractive opportunities”.

Its preliminary financial results for the 52 weeks ended 27 December showed revenue at almost £2.2b, 6.8% up on 2024’s £2b. Like-for-like sales in company-managed shops were up 2.4% year-on-year.

Delivery sales were up 8.1%, representing 6.8% of company-managed shop sales, a slight increase on 2024’s proportion of 6.7%.

However, underlying profit slipped by 4% from 2024’s £195.3m to £187.5m last year.

During the period, Greggs also trialled three smaller-format Bitesize Greggs shops, which were launched in November to target high-footfall locations and travel hubs.

The Greggs App scanned in 26.7% of company-managed shop transactions, up from 2024’s 20.1%, while evening remains the chain’s fastest growing daypart with 9.4% of company-managed shop sales in 2025, compared to the previous year’s 9.0%.

Chief executive Roisin Currie described Greggs’ performance as “resilient”, predicting: “Looking into 2026, easing inflationary pressures should provide some support to consumer spending and demand for convenient food-on-the-go continues to underpin the market.

“We remain focused on broadening access to Greggs with a strong pipeline of shop openings, exciting launches and deeper customer engagement via the Greggs App.

“We have a clear formula for long-term success, leveraging our value leadership, vertical integration, breadth of range and strong track record of innovation. Together, these strengths give us a clear competitive advantage and position us well to deliver further sustainable growth.”

Greggs was founded in 1939 by John Gregg in Newcastle and the business has since expanded to become a leading UK food-on-the-go retailer.