Deep dive · High street bakeries · Accounts to December 2025

Inside the accounts · How does Greggs really make its money?

Greggs spends more on its people than its food: £756m against £671m

Greggs sold £2.15bn of sausage rolls, bakes, coffee and pizza in 2025 from 2,739 shops, and made less profit than the year before. Its annual report shows where each pound goes, why it builds its own distribution centres, what franchise partners and delivery add, and what a rise in the wage bill does to a business that sells on value. Where a figure says something about life inside the business, we explain it.

CompanyGreggs plc · 00502851

AccountsAccounts to December 2025 PDF ↗

ByJames Sproule · 28 September 2026

Reading time7 min read

£2.15bnSales, up 6.8%

£167mPre-tax profit, down from £204m

£756mStaff costs, more than the £671m spent on ingredients and packaging

2,739Shops, 121 more, over 600 run by franchise partners

In 60 words

The answer

Running a bakery chain means paying more for people than for food: £35 of every £100 of Greggs' sales went on staff and £31 on ingredients and packaging. Sales rose 6.8% to £2.15bn, but higher National Insurance, a hot summer and new distribution centres cut pre-tax profit 18% to £167m. It kept its 69p dividend and spent £288m on investment, the peak of its building programme.

The rhythm of the business

How a Greggs day shows up in the accounts

Greggs makes most of what it sells, moves it with its own lorries and sells it for cash. The report calls this "vertical integration" and credits it for keeping prices low (p. 58). Four stages of the day each leave a mark in the notes.

Overnight

Make it and move it

"We move products from our manufacturing sites to our shops ourselves, which helps us to keep our prices as low as possible" (p. 3).

3,889 production staff

Morning

Bake off in the shop

Food is "freshly prepared in shops each day" (p. 58). That is why shop staff are 28,026 of the 33,283 people on the payroll.

84% of staff work in shops

Lunchtime

Cash in the till

Shop sales are "made to the general public on a cash basis" (p. 145). Customers pay before Greggs pays its suppliers, which funds the business.

£151.8m net current liabilities

After 5pm

The evening trade

"Around 2,000 Greggs shops are open beyond 5pm", and evening is "our fastest-growing daypart" (p. 17).

9.4% of company-managed shop sales

The income statement

The business on one page

From £2.15bn of sales to £122m of profit, 2025Distribution and selling costs, the cost of running the shops and the lorries, take almost half of every pound.

Totals
Costs and charges
Income and credits

Consolidated income statement, p128.

35p

of every £1 at the till, after VAT, goes on staff. 31p goes on ingredients, packaging and products bought in to sell.

is left as pre-tax profit, and about 6p after tax. The rest pays for shop leases and equipment (9p) and everything else, from energy and rates to fuel and delivery fees (17p).

Where each £100 of Greggs' sales went, 2025Revenue is after VAT. Tax of £2.10 comes out of the £7.78 of profit, leaving £5.68.

£35.16£31.19£17.06

Staff · £35.16
Ingredients, packaging and bought-in products · £31.19
Leases and depreciation: shops, bakeries, vans, IT · £8.81
Everything else: energy, rates, fuel, marketing, delivery fees and more · £17.06
Pre-tax profit · £7.78

Income statement p128; notes 3, 5, 11 and 15, pp148–161. Our split.

Background, not from the accountsSales in the accounts are after VAT. In the UK, hot takeaway food such as a warm sausage roll is charged VAT at 20%, while most cold takeaway food is zero-rated. So on a hot item, a sixth of what the customer pays goes to HMRC before it counts as sales. Greggs booked £4.5m for VAT it had underpaid in earlier years after finding "a VAT error" (p. 148).

Sales

Where the money comes from

Its own shops are the business. Company-managed shops, including delivery orders, brought in £1,897m of the £2,151m. Like-for-like sales in shops open for more than a year grew 2.4%, held back by "prolonged high temperatures experienced in June and July" (p. 57).

Partners earn a better margin. Greggs sells products to franchise partners and to Iceland and Tesco, and charges franchisees a licence fee. That channel made £66.5m of trading profit on £254.0m of sales, a 26.2% margin, against 13.3% in its own shops (p. 145).

Sales by channelFranchise and wholesale is 12% of sales but 21% of trading profit. Trading profit is before £146.8m of central overheads.

2024
2025

Company-managed shops, incl. deliverytrading profit £251.4m, a 13.3% margin£1,897.2m

Franchise and wholesale partnerstrading profit £66.5m, a 26.2% margin£254.0m

Note 1, segmental analysis, p145.

6.8%

Delivery

Of the "sales mix", through Just Eat and Uber Eats in three quarters of company-managed shops. A delivery basket is "around three times that of a walk-in customer". More than 70% of pizza boxes are sold through delivery partners (p. 17).

26.7%

The app

Share of company-managed transactions scanned on the Greggs App, up from 20.1%. Customers get a free product for every nine they buy (p. 17).

What this means for GreggsA franchise partner, such as a motorway services or station operator, pays the rent, runs the shop and employs the staff. Greggs sells it the food and takes a fee. So Greggs earns less per sale but carries almost none of the shop costs: its franchise channel had £2.2m of retail costs against £861m in its own shops. The report says franchise shops, "primarily focused on roadside locations", held up better in 2025, with like-for-like system sales up 4.3% (p. 57). Around a third of the 120 net openings planned for 2026 will be with franchise partners (p. 25).

Not disclosed. The report gives delivery and evening trade as percentages, not pounds, and doesn't split franchise income from grocery sales to Iceland and Tesco. On our estimates, 9.4% of company-managed sales puts evening trade at about £180m, and 6.8% puts delivery at roughly £130m to £145m, depending on which sales total the percentage is taken from.

Staff

What the people cost

Staff costs rose 10%, to £756.4m, while the average number of people rose 3.2% to 33,283. Wages and salaries were £650.0m.

Employer's National Insurance rose 38%, from £46.9m to £64.5m, after the rate went up in April 2025. The extra £17.6m is more than twice the £7.8m fall in underlying operating profit. The report names "employment costs, including the impact of the increase in employer's National Insurance contributions" as the main reason costs rose about 5.5% (p. 58).

Averaged across everyone, staff cost £22,700 a head. The note counts people, not hours, and most shop roles are paid by the hour.

Staff costs rose £70m; National Insurance rose 38%Employer's National Insurance went up from April 2025.

Wages and salaries
Employer's National Insurance
Pensions and share schemes

Note 5, p149.

Who the 33,283 people areAverage employees in 2025. Each square is 1%.

Shops: 28,026
Production: 3,889
Management: 853
Administration: 515

Note 5, pp148–149.

50p

An hour, from 2026

Greggs agreed a 50p an hour rise on all hourly rates, 15p from 4 January and 35p from 29 March 2026, to "protect the pay differentials" between roles (p. 97). A union agreement covers 98% of the workforce.

£20.2m

Profit share

"Every year, 10% of our profit is shared among our colleagues" (p. 3). It was £20.5m in 2024 (p. 149).

36:1

Chief executive to median colleague

Roisin Currie's total pay was £1.04m, down from £1.62m as her bonus and share awards paid out less. The median colleague received £28,810. The ratio was 68:1 in 2024 (pp. 112 and 118).

Background, not from the accountsThe National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over rose from £12.21 to £12.71 an hour in April 2026, a 50p rise, which matches the rise Greggs agreed for all its hourly rates. Employer's National Insurance rose from 13.8% to 15% in April 2025, and the threshold at which employers start paying fell from £9,100 to £5,000 a year. The lower threshold costs more for employers with many part-time staff.

What this means for GreggsFor a business where staff take 35p of every pound, a rise in pay or payroll tax that goes on every hour worked is the cost that matters most. Greggs can offset it in three ways the report describes: cost savings (£13.0m in 2025), careful price rises while keeping "a strong discount compared to other food-to-go specialists" (p. 58), and more sales through the same shops and bakeries. In 2025 like-for-like sales grew 2.4% against cost inflation of about 5.5%, and the margin fell from 9.7% to 8.7%.

Ingredients, waste and energy

The cost of the food itself

£670.9m

Stock used

Ingredients, packaging and bought-in products charged in the year, up 9.4% from £613.2m. Stock held at the year end was only £55.7m, about a month's use (p. 161).

£58.3m

Stock written down

Up from £49.3m. That is £2.71 of every £100 of sales, and equal to a third of pre-tax profit. The note gives the figure but doesn't say what it is made of (p. 161).

4 months

Bought ahead

Forward purchase agreements cover "circa four months of our food and packaging needs", and 100% of 2026 electricity is fixed (p. 58).

What this means for GreggsFresh food that doesn't sell by closing time can't go back on the shelf the next day. A bakery chain has to decide each morning how much to bake in each shop, knowing that too little loses sales and too much is thrown away or given away. The accounts don't say how much of the £58.3m write-down is unsold food, but a rise of £9m in a year when footfall was hit by hot weather is consistent with more product going unsold. Evening opening and delivery help: they sell more through the same ovens before the day ends.

What the report says about energyOnly that "energy costs marginally increased" in 2025 (p. 58). There is no energy figure in the accounts. Energy sits within cost of sales for the bakeries and within distribution and selling costs for the shops and lorries (p. 143), and is part of the £17 of every £100 we show as everything else.

Supply chain

Why Greggs builds its own bakeries and distribution centres

Ten years of investment2025 was the peak, with new distribution centres in Derby and Kettering. Guidance: about £200m in 2026, £150m to £170m a year from 2027.

Capital expenditure

Ten-year history, p174; financial review, p60.

£287.5m of investment in 2025, the peak of the programme (p. 60). It bought the land for a chilled and ambient National Distribution Centre in Kettering and continued fitting out a frozen one in Derby. The 23-acre Derby site will be "fully operational by the end of 2026", with robotic picking of frozen goods from mid-2026 and a production line (p. 17).

The aim is capacity for 3,500 shops, against 2,739 today. In 2024 Greggs sold its old Twickenham bakery site for £14.9m, a £13.8m gain (p. 148).

Property, plant and equipment on the balance sheet rose from £664.7m to £832.1m. Depreciation on owned assets rose from £76.6m to £90.7m (pp. 129 and 148).

What this means for GreggsMaking and moving its own food lets Greggs control cost and quality across thousands of shops. The cost is that a new site brings "additional operating and financing costs in the short term" before there are enough shops to use it (p. 58). That is part of why profit fell while sales rose: the report blames "increased fixed costs in respect of manufacturing, logistics and technology capacity" (p. 97). Return on capital fell from 20.3% to 16.0%, against a target of about 20%, and will "reduce further in 2026" (pp. 58 and 59).

The risk they name first"We could suffer a significant reduction in product availability as a result of the total loss of capacity at a key production facility" (p. 65). When one company makes the food for 2,739 shops, a fire or breakdown at one site reaches the whole estate, which is why the report points to "spare capacity within our network".

The estate

Opening four shops a week

121 net new shops, 50 relocations and 116 refits of company-managed shops, plus 47 franchise refits (p. 16).
Away from the high street. 64% of new company-managed shops were in places such as supermarkets, petrol forecourts, roadsides and retail parks, including nine drive-thrus (p. 25).
Little cannibalisation. Where a new shop opened within a mile of an existing one, the transfer of sales "averaged less than 5%" (p. 16).
A 25% return target. Greggs aims for a 25% cash return on the investment in a new shop and "typically" exceeds it after two to three years (p. 60).
Some rents follow sales. 166 shops pay rent linked to their takings, £11.8m in 2025 (p. 155).

£449.8m

Owed under leases

The shops are mostly leased. Lease payments were £80.0m. Under the accounting rules they appear not as rent but as £61.8m of depreciation on buildings and £16.7m of interest (p. 155).

What this means for GreggsRent is a fixed cost that doesn't fall on a quiet day. A turnover rent, where the landlord takes a share of takings, moves some of that risk to the landlord, and suits new locations such as travel hubs. The report says shop occupancy costs, "rent, rates and service charges as a percentage of sales", were stable, but doesn't give the ratio or a figure for business rates (p. 58).

Cash and shareholders

Where the cash went, and what shareholders got

Where the cash went in 2025Investment took £285m and cash fell by £55m, with £25m drawn on the bank facility.

Totals
Costs and charges
Income and credits

Statement of cash flows, p132.

Operations brought in £337.0m after tax and interest. Investment took £284.5m, leases £63.3m and dividends £70.3m. Cash fell from £125.3m to £70.8m, and Greggs drew £25m on its £100m bank facility, leaving net cash of £45.8m (pp. 132 and 61).

The ordinary dividend was held at 69p. The Board plans to keep it there "through this investment phase" (p. 59). 2024's payments were higher because they included a 40p special dividend declared for 2023.

Shareholders lost 36.8% in total return in 2025 (p. 174).

Dividend per share declared, penceHeld at 69p for 2025. Specials are paid when cash is above what the business needs.

Ordinary
Special

Ten-year history, p174; financial review, pp59–61.

What this means for GreggsCustomers pay at the till and suppliers are paid later on normal terms, so a cash retailer runs with more owed to suppliers than it holds in stock and debts. The report calls this "supplier funding" (p. 60). It is why Greggs can carry £151.8m of net current liabilities without strain, and why it aims to keep year-end net cash of about 3% of revenue "to allow for seasonality" (p. 61). With investment falling to about £200m in 2026 and £150m to £170m a year after that, the report says cash generation "creates material capacity for cash returns" (p. 60).

In the directors' words

The risks they name

We could suffer a significant reduction in product availability as a result of the total loss of capacity at a key production facility.
Principal risks, p. 65

Our strategy and goals may not be fully aligned with those of our partners in franchise, grocery retail or delivery.
Principal risks, p. 66

Employment cost inflation will again be the biggest driver of higher costs, but at a lower level than seen in recent years, reflecting changes to the National Living Wage.
Financial review, p. 58, on 2026

In plain termsGreggs relies on a few large sites and a few large partners. The supply chain makes it cheap to run, but a problem at one site reaches every shop. Franchise, grocery and delivery partners add sales without adding shop costs, but Greggs doesn't control them. And pay, which takes more than a third of every pound, goes up every April.

Two years side by side

Year on year

2025 against 2024Percentage change, one scale. 2024 profit included a £13.8m gain on selling the Twickenham bakery.

Revenue£2,014.4m → £2,151.2m+7%

Franchise and wholesale sales£232.7m → £254.0m+9%

Ingredients and packaging used£613.2m → £670.9m+9%

Staff costs£686.8m → £756.4m+10%

Employer's National Insurance£46.9m → £64.5m+38%

Stock written down£49.3m → £58.3m+18%

Underlying operating profit£195.3m → £187.5m-4%

Pre-tax profit£203.9m → £167.4m-18%

Capital expenditure£249.0m → £287.5m+15%

Shops at year end2,618 → 2,739+5%

Cash at year end£125.3m → £70.8m-43%

Income statement p128, balance sheet p129, notes 1, 5 and 15, ten-year history p174.

Show the figures as a table

Measure	2025	2024
Revenue	£2,151.2m	£2,014.4m
of which company-managed shops	£1,897.2m	£1,781.7m
of which franchise and wholesale	£254.0m	£232.7m
Underlying operating profit	£187.5m	£195.3m
Underlying operating margin	8.7%	9.7%
Pre-tax profit	£167.4m	£203.9m
Profit after tax	£122.2m	£153.4m
Staff costs	£756.4m	£686.8m
Average employees	33,283	32,258
Ingredients and packaging used	£670.9m	£613.2m
Stock written down	£58.3m	£49.3m
Capital expenditure	£287.5m	£249.0m
Shops at year end	2,739	2,618
Ordinary dividend per share	69.0p	69.0p
Cash at year end	£70.8m	£125.3m

2024 pre-tax profit included £14.1m of exceptional income, mostly the Twickenham bakery sale. 2025 included a £4.5m charge for VAT underpaid in earlier years.

Quick answers

Questions about Greggs

How does Greggs really make its money?

How much of Greggs' sales goes on staff?

£756.4m in 2025, or £35.16 of every £100 of sales, for an average of 33,283 people, 28,026 of them in shops. That is more than the £670.9m spent on ingredients, packaging and bought-in products. Employer's National Insurance rose from £46.9m to £64.5m.

How many Greggs shops are franchised?

Over 600 of its 2,739 shops are run by franchise partners. Sales to franchise and wholesale partners, including Iceland and Tesco, were £254.0m in 2025 and made £66.5m of trading profit, a 26.2% margin against 13.3% in Greggs' own shops.

Why did Greggs' profit fall in 2025?

Pre-tax profit fell from £203.9m to £167.4m. The report cites higher employment costs including National Insurance, food and packaging inflation, hot weather in June and July, and extra fixed costs from new manufacturing, logistics and technology capacity. 2024 also included a £13.8m gain on selling the Twickenham bakery.

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