// Greggs to axe 820 jobs as lockdown bites
// CEO Roger Whiteside warned that it would no longer be profitable business if the poor sales rate continued
Greggs has announced plans to cut more than 800 jobs as a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Its chief executive warned that the bakery chain and food-to-go retailer “will not be profitable as a business” if sales continued at the rates they have been in lockdown, as it was confirmed that 820 staff will be let go.
READ MORE:
- Asda opens first sit-in Greggs café in East Midlands store
- Greggs to cut jobs as furlough scheme comes to an end
- Greggs swings to a loss in half-year results
In a statement posted on the Greggs employee information website last week, chief executive Roger Whiteside said: “Covid trading conditions have forced this action onto our business and we are all very saddened by the need to part company with around 820 friends and colleagues, many of whom have worked with us for many years.”
He added that “the battle with Covid hasn’t gone away and is intensifying further” as restrictions continue to be in place across the four nations of the UK, especially in England which is currently in another full lockdown.
“At lockdown levels of sales, even after all of the mitigating action that we have taken, Greggs will not be profitable as a business and there can be no room for complacency,” Whiteside said.
At the end of September, the Newcastle-based chain said it was in talks with staff to cut hours to try and minimise job losses when the furlough scheme was expected to end in October. The scheme has since been extended until March.
Whiteside told reporters at the time: “Some stores have staff hours which are just off what’s needed for current demand. But others are a long way off and will need significant change.”
with PA Wires
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette’s free daily email newsletter
