Greggs confirms when about 800 of its branches will reopen

It comes after a 'successful' trial acoss the north east of England in May, with selected stores open for collection, delivery and standard walk-in orders.

A few weeks on from the start of the trial, the bakery chain has announced its next steps to return to more towns and cities in the coming weeks.

What have Greggs said?

In a statement, Roger Whiteside, the CEO of Greggs said: "We’ve recently opened a selection of shops on an ad-hoc basis in the North East trialling delivery, collection and standard walk-in orders.

"This was so we could test out new operational safety measures to roll out on a wider scale when the time is right.

"The trials have been performing well, providing useful feedback from colleagues and customers, and we’ll continue to adapt as we learn more and work to the latest Government advice."

Greggs: The bakery chain is to reopen scores of branches across the UK in the coming weeks. Picture: Greggs

When are Greggs planning to reopen more stores?

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

"All shops will open with our new tested operational measures in place. And although they will open with a reduced range, this will be a significant step in us helping the nation get back up and running and serving the communities that we operate in.

"We’ll continue to look for the best ways to serve customers whilst keeping everyone safe, and as long as we can continue to do this, the final phase in our plan is to open all shops with our new operational measures in place by July 1.

"A huge thanks to our colleagues and customers for their cooperation and understanding throughout this process. Keep safe, and all the best."