Greggs plans new distribution centre in 'Kettering / Corby area'

The Greggs store in Kettering High Street is one of 2,473 across the country

A national bakery chain is planning to build a new distribution centre to serve a growing number of shops.

Greggs said the facility would be located in the "Kettering/Corby area" in Northamptonshire.

It would be one of two new sites that would open in the next two to three years to help the company supply more than 3,000 stores.

The project would be part of a £250m investment by the company to expand its network of shops.

The plan for a new distribution centre was revealed in Greggs' annual report.

Greggs planned to open another 170 shops during 2024

The company said: "The site will be located in the Kettering/Corby area, and will be a new national distribution centre for the storage, picking and distribution of ambient and chilled goods.

"The site will enable our existing radial distribution centres to service many more shops, allowing them to support growth in their regions.

"We expect this site to be operational in the first half of 2027."

The company already has a logistics operation in Kettering, where, according to the report, it "took over the lease of a substantial warehousing facility next to our Kettering distribution centre when our supplier entered administration, securing our requirements and saving the jobs of everyone employed at the site."

Greggs already has a logistics operation in Henson Way, Kettering

The plans come at a time when the company is growing quickly.

The report says that 220 stores - a record number - were opened in 2023, and a further 170 are expected to progress in 2024.

Sales went up by almost 20% in 2023 with profit rising to £168m.

The company's chief executive, Roisin Currie, said: "We are very much on track to deliver our bold five-year growth plan to double sales by 2026 and to have significantly more than 3,000 shops in the UK over the longer term."