Cooke & Arkwright
News
Greggs spreads beyond high street
07/07/05
Leading bakery retailer Greggs has expanded beyond its more familiar high street portfolio to open an outlet at a 4,500 sq ft unit on Bridgend Industrial Estate.
The property, which was acquired for Greggs by Cooke & Arkwright, is conveniently located on Ravens Close and has already proved very successful, according to Steve Smith, managing director of Greggs’ South Wales division, Treforest.
“We are the first national operator of this kind on Bridgend Industrial Estate,” he said. “The outlet opened at the beginning of May and we are very pleased with the way the unit is trading. Ninety-five percent of our clients work on the estate and come here to buy lunchtime snacks. With two shops in Bridgend town and another two in the surrounding areas, we already had excellent brand recognition and customers responded to that.”
He added that the store, which opens between 7.30 am and 4.30 pm, would also be opening on Saturdays for a trial period. “Much of the estate works on Saturdays and we are responding to that,” he said. “This will become permanent if demand meets expectations.”
The high street bakery and takeaway specialist, which has over 100 shops in the South Wales division, is concentrating on gaining a presence in industrial estates and high density residential areas. Huw Thomas of Cooke & Arkwright, which acts for Greggs in its South Wales acquisitions, said the company intends to expand its non high street representation. “I am looking for further properties in a variety of other potential sites such as roadside developments, hospitals, universities, railway stations and petrol filling stations,” he said. “Greggs recently opened a unit in Newcastle International Airport and within the Wolverhampton General Hospital and I am looking to identify similar opportunities.”
Originally founded in the 1930’s, Greggs has over 1,000 shops nationwide and serves approximately 4 million customers each week. It has eight divisions throughout the UK and Greggs of Treforest was established in 1985. Its South Wales Division opened its 100th store in 2004 and the company now employs over 1,000 people in Wales.