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The American writer Washington Irving once wrote Tales from The Alhambra which later formed the basis of several films. A North East version might be Tales from Greggs, or Travels with a recyclable coffee cup to paraphrase Robert Louis Stephenson.
Greggs is a remarkable North East success story. It started in Gosforth in 1936 and is now nationwide. Sales have grown by about 10% per year since 1999. Rishi Sunak could take some lessons from this. It is impossible to walk about Newcastle without seeing a Greggs, but for some in- explicable reason I could not find one in Wallsend recently.
My family is fed up with me looking for Greggs in London although they have now appeared at Kings Cross – a wise move since trains to the North go from there. A bit of levelling up – London to North East standards is needed here.
Greggs treat their workers well, and give 1% of their profits to charities. What really impresses me most though is the kindness and pleasantness of the staff.
Its rival Costa is owned by Coca Cola, whereas Greggs is a UK public company. Costa used to be owned by Whitbread who also own Premier Inn. Whitbread used to be a major donor to the Tory Party although they probably have more sense now.
Greggs giving to charities
Some time ago I agreed to run a church raffle and went round the local shops soliciting prizes. Greggs told me they couldn’t give me a prize since charity was controlled by head office, but they gave me the details of the person in charge. I duly rang them up and was given the OK. I went back to Greggs and came out with several trays of cup cakes. These disappeared in two minutes flat at the church function. I then continued to Costa and told them how helpful Greggs had been. The manager replied sniffily that they only gave to approved charities. “Like the Tory Party?” I replied.(I should add in case I am sued this was not the present manager).Greggs had gone out of their way to help.
Kindness
The story continues. We used to have a dog, who knew when we went shopping because we came back with a Greggs sausage. But the poor dog became poorly and is now no longer with us. I told the staff in Greggs she was poorly and they gave me a free sausage for Mollie the dog. They did not have to.
My final episode was last week. We suffered a power cut and I was obliged to go to Greggs for an early morning bacon sandwich and a cup of tea. They filled a thermos for me free. Again I offered to pay. The staff are very kind
I will no doubt encounter more episodes, but I feel we should celebrate a northern firm which can stand up to the corporate giants like Starbucks and Costa. Long may they thrive.
I am writing this on the train going to the Highlands. A branch has now opened in Inverness.
