Greggs The Bakers, With Customers Sitting Outside And A Man Walking Out With Greggs Take Away Food And A Hot Drink. UK. March 7 19 Editorial Photo

Greggs sales top £1bn for first time as it bucks high street slowdown. Pre-tax profits at UK’s largest bakery chain rise by 15% to £82.6m in 2018. Greggs had a milestone year in 2018 with sales topping £1bn for the first time, while the launch of its vegan sausage roll provided a strong start to 2019. The UK’s largest bakery chain said total sales rose by 7.2% year-on in 2018 to £1.03bn, compared to £960m in the previous year. Greggs has bucked the trend of a struggling high street in recent months, with strong demand for its breakfast ranges as well as its steak bakes and sausage rolls. It scored a major marketing victory in January when it launched its vegan sausage roll. The alternative to the traditional meat pastry attracted a large social media following and shops rapidly sold out of the Quorn-filled snack. The retailer said it had enjoyed a “very strong start to the year”, with like-for-like sales – stripping out those at shops open for less than a year – jumping 9.6% in the first seven weeks of 2019, boosted by the popularity of the vegan sausage roll after Greggs sold hundreds of thousands of them in the first week alone.