The retailer saw footfall slump in 2020 as lockdowns came in. It shut stores for the first lockdown last March before reopening with social distancing rules in place.
Although its branches were open for the remainder of the year, sales fluctuated monthly depending on what restrictions were in place at different times in different parts of the UK.
In the 53 to January 2 Greggs recorded a pretax loss of £13.7 million, compared with a £108.3 million profit a year earlier. Total sales fell to £811.3 million from £1.2 billion.
But it saw good demand for deliveries via Just Eat. In the first 10 weeks of this financial year delivery has accounted for 9.6% of total sales.
The group also had a better than expected start to the year despite the latest lockdown. Company-managed shop like-for-like sales are down 28.8% year-on-year in the ten weeks to March 13.
Whiteside said: “It can only be up from here, assuming the [government] roadmap [plan] happens as planned.”
