Greggs opened a new branch in Cornmarket in Oxford in March 2020 before the first lockdown got under way and there were queues of hungry customers.

Shortly after it opened, it was forced to close as the first lockdown got under way and it was not able to reopen until July.

Now staff are serving takeaways in lockdown three.

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A member of staff said: "We are open for takeaway Monday to Saturday from 6am to 6pm and on Sunday from 8am to 5pm."

Oxford Mail:

The popular bakery chain - 'the nation's favourite' - converted the former Moss Bros store near Carfax into one of the biggest Greggs' branches in the country, with 66 seats upstairs.

The new branch created 30 jobs and this followed staff across the country being given a £300 bonus if they had been with the firm before March 31, 2019.

This came on the back of sales of vegan sausage rolls and vegan steak bakes.

Greggs was first introduced to the high street in 1939.

Read more: Lockdown 3: Oxford businesses react

Today the chain forecast that the coronavirus pandemic will result in the company posting its first annual loss since the mid-1980s, while it does not expect pre-Covid profit levels to return until 2022 at the earliest.

Greggs’ annual sales slumped by more than £300m year on year in 2020, pushing it to forecast a £15m full-year loss, as coronavirus restrictions closed its shops and hit revenues.

Oxford Mail:

This would be the first annual loss for the retailer since it listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1984.

The company, which has more than 2,000 outlets in the UK, reported sales of £811m for the 53 weeks to 2 January, a 30% decline on the £1.16bn figure for 2019.

Greggs said its fourth-quarter sales averaged 81% of the equivalent 2019 level, while it had to manage variable trading conditions across the UK.

Its chief executive, Roger Whiteside, said the impact of Covid-19 had been “enormous” but the retailer had changed its working practices to allow it to provide takeaway food under different levels of government coronavirus restrictions.

He said: “The breadth of Greggs’ customer base provides ongoing demand for our services which, combined with our diverse geographical spread, has demonstrated the resilience of our business."

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The company’s forecast of a £15m loss for 2020 marks a reversal of fortunes for the bakery chain, with its sales exceeding £1bn in 2018 and 2019.

Oxford Mail:

In recent years, Greggs has been on a roll thanks to the success of its takeaway food products including the vegan sausage roll.

As coronavirus restrictions have kept customers at home, Greggs has been working to offer a delivery service through a partnership with the food courier Just Eat.

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However, delivery sales in the fourth quarter were only equivalent to 5.5% of company-managed shop sales.

Oxford Mail:

During 2020 Greggs opened 84 new shops, including 35 franchised units, and closed 56, bringing the total to 2,078 stores.

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