The latest on Greggs reopening plans - including Scarborough outlets

Greggs which has branches in Scarborough and Bridlington and closed its doors on March 24 in line with the UK lockdown, but following the successful reopening of some of its stores, the bakery chain has announced that 800 branches will open.

New social distancing measures and a slimmed down menu will be put in place at stores across the country.

Greggs CEO, Roger Whiteside announced that a selection of Greggs branches in the North East had reopened on a trial basis, testing how delivery, collection and walk in orders would work using new safety measures.

“We plan to start preparing and opening more shops nationwide from around the of June 18 and we’re currently in the process of selecting around 800 shops to reopen, this will initially include approximately 150 franchise shops,” Whiteside said.

All new stores that reopen will have the tried and tested operation measures in place to ensure the safety of both staff and customers.

The company has not specified which outlets will re-open.

This move comes after initial plans to reopen 20 stores in April fell through due to fears that social distancing measures would not be successfully upheld.

The plan is to have all Greggs shops reopened with new operational measures in place by July 1.

Prior to this however, Greggs is beginning with a phased approach to opening its doors, with 150 shops initially being reopened around 18 June, and the eventual goal to open 800 branches.

These branches will likely follow the lead of previous Greggs stores that have opened and offer delivery, collection and take away services - not sit in.

However the company has not confirmed which stores will reopen.

The UK government announced that all “non-essential” retailers in England would be able to resume from June 15, with the likes of markets and car dealerships being able to open from June 1.

The Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the hospitality industry and other public places would be able to reopen in July “at the earliest”.

The four phase route map in Scotland could see pubs and restaurants waiting longer to open their doors than in England.

What is the reduced menu?

The stores that will be reopening their doors to the public will be working from a “reduced range”.

There has not been any announcement about what this menu could look like - and it could vary from branch to branch.

It is likely that the more popular items will still be included in the limited menu, such as sausage rolls, steak bakes and cheese and onion pasties.

Greggs states that “all gift cards are valid for two years from date of purchase”.

If you’ve got a Greggs gift card that you’ve not been able to use due to lockdown, and you’re concerned about losing the balance on it, you should contact Greggs.

You can do this by phoning 0808 147 3447.

For those with Greggs Rewards collected via the app, you should be aware that any rewards that have expired while stores were closed will be reissued to your account at a later date.