Newcastle-based bakery group Greggs is looking at restructuring its supply chain to centralise production of more products. The group has developed through a divisional structure in which each of its ten regional bakeries produced a wide range of products for its own shops, often in small quantities and with much being finished by hand.
Sales last year rose 7.1 per cent to £628m but operating profit was down 7.2 per cent to £44.3m.
“We are examining the longer term opportunities to enhance quality and productivity through the consolidation of manufacturing to allow more efficient production of higher volumes. This is likely to follow the successful example of our central savouries unit at Balliol Park in Newcastle upon Tyne, which opened in 1998 and has delivered real benefits in enhanced product quality and consistency, as well as substantially increased productivity.”
Greggs now has 1,400 shops around the UK and is in the process of moving the last of its “Bakers Oven” stores over to the Greggs format.
