Greggs Share Discussion Threads

[gozzie2] 01/5/2020 14:57

The poster that put about staff unable to keep 2m apart is spot on .Its impossible and thats a problem with many shops .These convenience shops that are open now are usually family businesses .Queues distancing real problems until a vaccine which could be ages .Just shown queues in india 3mile long for lunch .Will we do the same for a pasty lol

[gozzie2] 01/5/2020 14:46

I think social distancing is going to be a huge problem with high street stores across all sectors .Its the reason i prefer internet shares at the moment as i see problems of queues putting people off waiting ect .I am thinking of buying into greggs soon though as i believe they will come up with some solution and its takeaway which will do much better than cafes ect .This management is the best on the high street imo although i do agree with the poster the change of mind was unfortunate .Im sure it would have been staff interest and customer safety that caused the delay and they will get it right eventually .They will take more business off cafes although footfall in town centres could well be a lot lower .Im a little undecided tbh but its make your mind up soon .

[philanderer] 01/5/2020 14:08

A Greggs spokesperson said: "Due to significant interest in our 20-shop trial, and the risk that excessive numbers of customers may plan to visit Greggs, we will now initially operate these trials behind closed doors in order to effectively test our new operational safety measures.

"We will continue to review this and will invite walk-in customers into our shops only when we can be confident of doing so in the controlled manner we intended."

The chain refused to predict when the branches would be open to customers but indications are that it is keen to move to that phase as soon as possible.

That could mean doors opening to customers within days of the start of the two week 20-store trial.

[bouleversee] 01/5/2020 12:59

Can anyone translate Whitehouse's post for me?

I'm disappointed in Greggs (for whom I had great respect) for announcing that they were to reopen in Newcastle before they had thought it all through. Fake news! I don't yet know whether he managed it in view of the platform site delays, but my son was planning to top up his holding yesterday afternoon and if he did will now be well down and very cross.

I should learn that if I don't understand share movements, it is usually because some people have inside information that I don't and can act accordingly.

[mikemichael2] 01/5/2020 12:05

Shurely, who's shurely?

[ny boy] 01/5/2020 12:03

I did predict a cream bun fight outside their stores!

You can imagine the lardy lot outside salivating lol

No wonder they have postponed opening up again.

[the white house] 01/5/2020 11:58

In the charts on SkyNews Tyneside/NE is in Div 1 of 15 for the virus. Pick an pilot area on page 15 with 4x less Shurely

[galatea99] 01/5/2020 11:45

Places like pharmacies function perfectly well serving customers through a kind of service hatch. I'm sure customers of Greggs know what they want to buy and need only observe (as they will) social distancing while queueing as they await their turn to be served. Effectively, it's a kind of "walk through", rather than a "drive through" kind of operation that is needed. Not having customers inside the shops would actually make staff operations easier and safer. It really ought not to be a problem, imo it is only a matter of working out how best to set it up. Give it a couple of weeks and Greggs will be back in business.

[bouleversee] 01/5/2020 11:10

Why can't they provide takeaways purely for people who have pre-ordered and come to collect at a prearranged time, taking their place in a distanced queue?

[philanderer] 01/5/2020 10:36

Some obviously knew of this yesterday...

Greggs British Bake Off? Pasty chain may not reopen stores after all

[s34icknote] 01/5/2020 08:41

This is similar to card factory but Greggs much better .But shops in confined spaces selling small items to masses could struggle .Great if we get rid of the social distancing rule but if we don't retailers such as Howdens kitchens where you have a loading bay at rear of property little contact to load up !Higher value items !!This has held up well .But will there be a sting in the tail ?All on the 2 metre rule .Good luck allSicknote

[bouleversee] 30/4/2020 11:52

They will probably make customers queue in the street with appropriate distance between, as do the supermarkets I understand, and hand over the takeaway through a plastic shield, the order having been given through a different one and then one moves to a different line, or something like that. I am sure they will have thought it through, however. And they will probably wear masks to shield each other which is what should have happened all along.

[mikemichael2] 28/4/2020 10:00

How do the staff keep 2m distance in those tiny shops??I can see customers keeping apart, but impossible for the two or three staff behind the counter.

[bouleversee] 27/4/2020 12:53

How weird that Greggs' share price has dropped down today, when the FTSE is well up. I fully expected that Greggs would do likewise as they seem to be very well organised and have got a sensible plan..

[philanderer] 27/4/2020 12:22

darrin , many thanks for that.

[darrin1471] 27/4/2020 10:46

Greggs Employee Information

The key principle in the plan is that we must accept that when we open, we will not be able to operate normally and must have new social distancing and hygiene measures in place to continue to provide protection for our colleagues and our customers whilst the risk of infection is high.

Phase 1: A small trial in Newcastle

We intend to carry out a controlled trial in just 20 shops in the Newcastle area with retail volunteers from the business who will provide feedback to inform us which operational changes we will need to introduce, including social distancing and measures to support the safety of our customers and teams when we decide to open at scale. This small trial will aim to start on May 4th with a limited product range and shorter trading hours. We believe that we will require at least 2 weeks to evaluate this trial and the plan is that the shops will stay open thereafter. Many of our competitors have already opened trial shops on the same basis in order to learn what works for them.

Phase 2 – A selected wider shop opening

We will only move to open a wider number of shops if the feedback from Phase 1 is positive and supports us extending our reopening plans. We are currently in the process of selecting about 700 shops to reopen, including approximately 150 franchise shops, as the first large group of shops to re-open with our new tested operational measures in place. We expect it will only be possible to open this many shops if the government has taken a first step in relaxing the lock down which could be to open the schools. This in turn would allow an increased number of people to return to work. The Government has not yet published its plan, but our assumption is that the schools will re-open on June 1st and that we will open this phase of selected shops on June 8th. This timing may change depending on future government announcements.

We expect sales to be significantly lower than normal in all of these shops whilst social distancing measures remain in place, and therefore will not be asking all colleagues in these shop teams to return to work, requiring some to remain on furlough for a further period of time. Also, as we are reopening with a reduced product range, the same will be true for our supply chain colleagues with not all team members being required to return to work until Phase 3 of our plan when we have opened all of our shops, extended our initial range, and demand levels have risen.

In order that we can support a wide variety of individual circumstances, I would ask that we are all as flexible as possible as we determine the ideal mix of which roles to bring out of furlough and when. All colleagues, whether on furlough or not, will remain paid for full contract hours until July 1st as previously communicated. There may be some instances where retail and supply chain individuals could be asked to work additional hours which of course, would be paid.

Phase 3 – All shops opening

The final phase in our plan is to open all shops with new operational measures in place by July 1st, which is when government furlough support is currently scheduled to end. We also hope that, by then, the next steps in relaxing the lockdown beyond schools opening would have been announced. Once again, these timings could change depending on future government announcements.

Managing uncertainty

Naturally we must be acutely aware that there remains a great deal of uncertainty in how our fight against this virus will develop, and should the situation worsen for any reason, we may be required to stop or delay the implementation of our plan. However, sharing our plan as soon as we are able to, should give us all a framework to base our future preparations upon.

[philanderer] 26/4/2020 23:36

Italy is opening takeaway food in may. We're a few weeks behind Italy so july could well be about right.

[spacecake] 26/4/2020 18:09

Greggs will reopen 20 Newcastle shops in May, which should lead to the baker fully reopening around the UK by July if lockdown rules are relaxed.

[pooltowerpower] 26/4/2020 10:01

The way I see it, is they rely on a steady flow of footfall, and there is no footfall in the city/town centres yet.

[bouleversee] 25/4/2020 21:56

I heard on the radio today that thay are planning to open a few shops staffed by volunteers.

[pooltowerpower] 25/4/2020 21:35

My fear is what the future holds if their shops re-open and then are forced to close for a 2nd time, because of a new wave of coronavirus.