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BB Greggs Interview

Ken McMeikan, the new managing director of Greggs, plans to significantly expand the company's store portfolio by opening more locations across the UK. McMeikan spent 14 years at Tesco and helped expand their Tesco Express format. He believes Greggs can open many more stores, as there are parts of the UK without Greggs locations and some areas are underserved. McMeikan also wants to standardize Greggs' product range across stores and improve the customer experience with offerings like cheaper coffee. His experience at Tesco positions him well to accelerate Greggs' growth through more ambitious expansion.

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79 views1 page

BB Greggs Interview

Ken McMeikan, the new managing director of Greggs, plans to significantly expand the company's store portfolio by opening more locations across the UK. McMeikan spent 14 years at Tesco and helped expand their Tesco Express format. He believes Greggs can open many more stores, as there are parts of the UK without Greggs locations and some areas are underserved. McMeikan also wants to standardize Greggs' product range across stores and improve the customer experience with offerings like cheaper coffee. His experience at Tesco positions him well to accelerate Greggs' growth through more ambitious expansion.

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vaughan2007
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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News insight I Top 50

r
Greggs powerhouse
Can the man at the helm of Britain's
leading bakery retailer give it the
Tesco effect', with consumer-focused
policy and ambitious expansion plans?
Anne Bruce finds out more

esco opened its first Tesco

T Express outlet in October


2002 and now has 880. Not
bad for six years' work.
The relevance to Greggs?
Well, Greggs has a new man in
charge, Ken McMeikan. He
spent 14 years at Tesco and was
a key figure in the glory days of
the roll-out of its Tesco Express
format in 2004, leaving after-
wards for Sainsbury's. That's
why McMeikan should be taken
seriously when he promises an "Wewant the
"escalation in growth" at Greggs,
already the UK's biggest takea-
right shops in the
waychainwith1,403shops-many right locations -
more than McDonald's or
Starbucks. "We are a growth not shops that
business and we need to set up cannibalise
in a way that we can accelerate
this growth," McMeikan insists. existing trade"
McMeikan is in the ideal posi- - Ken McMeikan, MD
tion to do that; his prudent
predecessors squirrelled mil- over-supply of bakery units avail- For now, it's all about sorting In addition, it will look at the
lions away in company coffers able on the high street in the out "operational challenges". way it serves customers,
and the business has zero debt. future and that the rentals market Even a business like Greggs has McMeikan adds. "Our loyal cus-
willsoften. I don't want to set arti- room for improvement. tomers know we make sand-
Growth opportunity ficialtargets," he says, explaining wiches fresh every day, and
So what is the scale of his ambi- that location is what matters. Competition know if the product is not there,
tion? The old Greggs would "People can be driven to acquire As British Baker's 2009 Top 50 they can ask one of our staff to
reliably open around 50 new shops for numbers' sake. We list shows, Greggs' top spot on make it. Weneed to get that mes-
shops a year, towards a longer- want the right shops in the right the list is under threat, as the sage across to everyone."
term goal of 1,700 by 2010. locations - not shops that canni- 1,284-shop chain Subway plans The tea and coffee offer is also
McMeikan takes a bolder balise existing trade. Andwe want to overtake it on store numbers being investigated. "Wewill offer
approach. He comments: "I have the best deals on leases; we don't by the middle of this year. great-tasting coffee, but cheaper
seen a significant opportunity for want to lock into IQ-year deals Moreover, Greggs' business than the competition- not £2, say
growth in the UK We serve one with five-yearbreak clauses." structure, with 10 separate divi- £1.20,"he says. "Iam able to bring
millioncustomers a day,there are Greggs is also planning to look sions, causes complications. At a lot from my background in
over 60m people in the UK There at the Irish market for the first the moment, only 30%of Greggs' supermarkets and convenience
are parts of the country that do time as it expands, although range is the same nationwide, stores. I understand how a world-
not have a Greggs or a Bakers' there is "no immediate rush", he McMeikan wants that to be 80%, class centralised business like
Oven shop and towns and cities reveals. 'There is significant with 20%of the range still being Tesco operates, listens and reacts
where we are under-represented. growth opportunity in England, regional. "We want to simplify it to customers in a way that is con-
Customers love our products, but Scotland and Wales, but at some and make it consistent," he says. sistent across the whole estate,"
we need more locations." point in the year, we will go to Greggs is also converting he says.
Adding shop numbers is not meet with people on the ground Bakers' Oven shops to the domi- Sounds like McMeikan plans
difficult, he says. In fact, the eco- in Ireland and understand the nant Greggs brand and closingits to keep Greggs top of the
nomic downturn willmake it easy. property market and which parts 10loss-making shops in Belgium, bakery retail tree for some time
"I believe there is going to be an of the country are appropriate." to focus on leadership in the UK to come. []J

www.bakeryawards.co.uk 30January 20091 British Baker 1 15

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