By Editor,Emily Hawkins

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Greggs hikes prices as soaring wages swell baker’s costs

High street under pressure ahead of November Budget as consumers hold back

By EMILY HAWKINS

Updated: 11:46 BST, 1 October 2025

The boss of Greggs has called on Rachel Reeves to deliver a ‘balanced Budget’ as she blamed high inflation for price rises this week.

Roisin Currie said the bakery chain will is grappling with higher inflation caused by last year’s raid on employers, as it will this week hike prices of a ‘small number’ of products.

It is set to raise the price of its three-part £3.95 breakfast meal deal to £4.15, while some baked goods, including its empire biscuits, will go up by 5p.

This follows increases in May and January earlier this year, and as food cost inflation has continued to prove stubbornly high..

The chief executive said the country was still in a ‘high inflation environment’ that has been ‘driven by a number of those decisions, particularly the National Insurance cost, which costs us an extra £20million this year’.

Speaking as the business revealed sales had picked up towards the end of summer, Currie said she hoped Labour would deliver ‘balance’.

Roisin Currie said the bakery chain will is grappling with higher inflation caused by last year’s raid on employers

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She explained this as ‘looking after businesses, but also, I think, in this high inflation environment, it’s also making sure that the government is very attuned to the pressure on people’s incomes.’

The High Street is still reeling from a slew of higher costs introduced in last year’s Budget, as they anxiously await the next one on 26 November.

Retailers and hospitality firms were especially hit by surprise increases to employers’ National Insurance contributions, which particularly impacted firms with part-time staff.

Currie urged the Chancellor to avoid any more shocks for businesses. ‘Last year that we weren’t expecting that, and it came in very quickly. It’s quite hard to plan and manage a business when you have a £20million hit that you hadn’t predicted or weren’t aware was coming.’

But the business hailed ‘a marginally improved outlook for cost inflation’ after prices for key ingredients including flour did not rise as fast as expected.

Greggs has expanded far too fast, claim critics… in the week it opens its first PUB

And shares rose 7 per cent as investors were cheered by like-for-like sales rising 1.5 per cent over the 13 weeks to 27 September 2025.

‘While unusually high temperatures persisted throughout July, which held back performance during the month, trading improved in August and September in more stable conditions,’ its update said.

The chain is hoping to compete with supermarkets with a ‘Big Deal’ meal deal, which offers customers any sandwich or salad, a drink, and a side from just £5.

And, in a departure from the baked goods it is known for, Greggs now sells protein shakes and egg pots in efforts to appeal to more health-conscious consumers.

But Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said Greggs stands to be hit by further knocks to consumer confidence, raising doubts about its frenzy of openings.

He said: ‘If Chancellor Rachel Reeves tinkers with tax rates at the Budget, there is a risk consumer confidence will deteriorate, and spending weakens.

‘Greggs is a discretionary spend – people don’t have to buy pastries and coffees on the way to work or sandwiches for their lunch. Commuters can easily bring items from home to get them through the day, a situation which could be disastrous for Greggs.’

And he warned the group’s like-for-like sales are ‘still pedestrian despite ongoing product innovation that should have drawn in the crowds’.

The group is ploughing ahead with an expansion programme, adding 57 net new shops to its portfolio in the year so far.

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