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Greggs plc

grg.l · LSE Consumer Defensive
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Ticker grg.l
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Sector Consumer Defensive
Industry Grocery Stores
Employees 33146
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FY2017 Annual Report · Greggs plc
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Investing  
in our future

Greggs plc Annual Report and Accounts 2017

 
 
 
 
 
 
because…

Every savoury is

freshly 
baked 

in our shops

OUR BALANCED CHOICE
range continues to grow and now 
accounts for more than £100m of sales

We have been making

GREAT
QUALITY
bakery products 
OURSELVES 
for over 75 years

Every  
sandwich  
is FRESHLY 
PREPARED  
every day

21,000  
well trained 
colleagues provide 
great service  
to their customers

We fuel the nation
with our great coffee, and had record-breaking sales in 2017

O P E N

We are 

OPEN

when our customers want us to be, 
including from 7am and on Sundays

We loved rewarding our customers for 
their loyalty last year and reached the 
 1 million app downloads 
milestone 

We want to make a positive impact on people’s lives

…We launched  
reusable coffee cups
in all of our shops, alongside a 
great discount on all hot 
drinks for customers using one

450+

BREAKFAST CLUBS
Greggs Foundation celebrated 
its 30th anniversary

We donated 45% more  
unsold food in 2017 
than we did in 2016. This year,  
we’ll try and give away even more

Playing a key role in the
food-on-THE-go  
sector on sugar reduction  
in response to the  
Government’s commitment

We help customers to make 
informed choices and introduced 
nutrition traffic lights to  
product details on our website 

We made a 
pledge  
for veg 

to help our customers  
to eat more vegetables

We care about our planet too…
making sure our carbon footprint got smaller again

We are

INVESTING

Constantly

to improve our shops 
and open new ones
We’ve ambitions to grow 
to over 2,000 shops 
nationwide

£25m to modernise  
and centralise our  
systems and processes

£100m

to reshape 
our supply chain 
to support shop 
growth

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

01

Strategic ReportABOUT US

We stand for great tasting, 
freshly prepared food that 
our customers can trust, at 
affordable prices and aim  
to become the customers’ 
favourite for food-on-the-go. 

With ownership of our supply chain and ambitions to grow to over  
2,000 shops nationwide, we are in a unique position to make good, 
freshly prepared food accessible to everyone, ensuring that  
‘Everyday tastes good’ at Greggs.

DIRECTORS’ REPORT

ACCOUNTS

Board of Directors and Secretary 

Governance report 

Directors’ report 

Audit Committee report 

Remuneration Committee report 

Statement of Directors’ responsibilities 

03

04

06

08

10

16

24

28

38

40

46

48

54

70

Independent auditor’s report 

Consolidated income statement 

Consolidated statement of  
comprehensive income 

Balance sheets 

Statements of changes in equity 

Statements of cashflows 

Notes to the consolidated accounts 

Ten-year history 

Financial calendar 

Secretary and advisers 

71

76

76

77

78

80

81

106

IBC

IBC

Contents

STRATEGIC REPORT 

Financial highlights 

Greggs at a glance 

Chairman’s statement 

Our strategy 

Chief Executive’s report 

Strategy in action 

Financial review 

Financial key performance indicators 

Non-financial key performance indicators  30

Risk management 

Principal risks and uncertainties 

33

36

02

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Total sales 

Company-managed shop like-for-like (LFL) 
sales growth

Pre-tax profit 

£960m+7.4%
£960m+7.4%

3.7%
3.7%

£81.8m+1.9%
£71.9m-4.3%

Diluted EPS

63.5p
55.7p

Ordinary dividend

Return on capital employed

32.3p+4.2%
32.3p+4.2%

26.9%
23.7%

Underlying excluding exceptional items
Total including exceptional items

Detailed calculations of Alternative Performance Measures, not otherwise shown in the Income Statement  
and related notes, are detailed on page 106.

Strategic progress

2017 has been another year of strong performance as 
we continued on our journey to transform Greggs into  
a winning brand in the food-on-the-go market. We’ve 
been busy developing our great product offer to meet 
customer needs, opening more shops in new locations 
while refurbishing our existing estate and investing in 
improved customer service.

We made significant progress in the fourth year of  
our major process and systems investment programme.  
We have made a good start with our £100 million supply 
chain investment programme to increase logistics 
capacity, consolidate our manufacturing operations into 
centres of excellence to improve product quality and 
support shop growth, allowing us to compete more 
effectively in the food-on-the-go market. The result has 
been a fourth consecutive year of strong like-for-like 
sales growth and record profits. 

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017
Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

03
03

Strategic ReportGREGGS AT A GLANCE

Becoming the 
customers’ favourite 
for food-on-the-go

Greggs is a strong and trusted brand and 
we draw on our heritage in fresh bakery to 
compete successfully in the food-on-the-go 
market. Having made strong progress in 
recent years, we have set the bar higher 
with our vision and strategic plan reflecting 
longer-term ambitions and commitment  
to putting the customer at the heart of  
our strategy.

Our purpose
Our business began in the 1930s, serving fresh 
bakery products to working families in the North  
East at prices everyone could afford. Today we’re  
just as keen for Greggs to have a positive impact on 
people’s lives. With ambitions to grow to over 2,000 
shops nationwide and ownership of our supply chain, 
we are in a unique position to make good, freshly 
prepared food accessible to everyone.

Our vision
In recent years we have shown we can be a winning 
brand in the food-on-the-go market and our vision is  
to become the customers’ favourite for food-on-the-
go. To achieve this, we have been working hard to see 
the business through the eyes of our customers. We 
continue to invest in understanding their needs and 
ensure we have amazing teams in place to deliver the 
fast and friendly service our customers know and love. 
Insight provided by our award-winning Greggs Rewards 
app and dedicated customer insight team helps to 
inform decision making throughout the business and  
better meet customer needs every day.

Our operations
Ownership of our supply chain means that we  
can make good, freshly prepared food accessible 
to everyone at great value in an extremely 
competitive market place. By managing our own 
logistics operation we can remain focused on the 
customer, delivering what our shops and 
customers need on time and in full.

Our target market
Greggs is a brand with universal appeal and we 
have been working hard to ensure we understand 
our customers and evolve our offer in response to 
their changing needs as we continue our journey 
to become the customers’ favourite for food-on-
the-go. 

Our market locations
As the internet changes the way we shop and 
food-on-the go eating habits evolve, we have  
built on our existing estate of shops to take 
Greggs where our customers want us to be.  
As a result, we can now be found in retail parks, 
shopping centres, industrial estates and office 
parks. We are also located where our customers 
need us when travelling, with shops in travel  
hubs, roadside locations with parking and now  
in Drive Thru format. Through our franchise 
partnerships we are also in motorway service 
stations and petrol forecourts.

Investment to 
reshape our supply 
chain to support 
shop growth: 

£100m

Investment to 
modernise and 
centralise our 
systems and 
processes: 

£25m

04

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

 
Business Model

WHAT WE DO

WHERE WE OPERATE

WHAT WE OFFER

Manufacturing

Delivery

Shopping

Travel

Quality

Convenience

Shops

Support

Work

Leisure

Value

Service

Strategy

Great tasting, freshly 
prepared food

Best customer  
experience

Competitive  
supply chain

First class  
support teams

Turn to page 08 to find out more.

Risks and uncertainties

Business  
change

Product quality 
and safety

Food  
scare

Loss of 
production

Market  
pressure

Consumer  
trends

Turn to page 33 to find out more.

Positive impact

Customer  
health
We encourage  
healthier food-on- 
the-go choices

Responsible 
sourcing
We care about  
where our ingredients 
come from

Community 

Environment 

People 

We share our  
success with the  
people around us

We aim to use  
energy efficiently  
and minimise waste

We are committed  
to creating a great  
place to work

Turn to pages 16-23 to find out more.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

05

Strategic ReportCHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT

Investing to create  
the platform to deliver  
long-term growth

Dividend increased 
in line with our 
progressive policy: 

32.3p

Greggs performed well in 2017, delivering 
further like-for-like sales growth as well as 
expanding its estate of shops. This was 
achieved despite significant inflationary 
headwinds and alongside continued major 
investment in line with our strategic plan. 
These investments are creating the 
platform for us to deliver sustainable 
long-term growth for the benefit of  
all stakeholders.

Overview
Greggs once again demonstrated the resilience  
of its people and business model, delivering a solid 
trading and financial performance in the face of 
increased cost inflation and a strategic change 
programme. The development of our products  
and shop formats has opened up additional 
opportunities for growth in shop numbers and we 
expect this expansion to continue in the year ahead. 
We are investing significantly in our supply chain to 
enable this growth, whilst continuing to make 
improvements to our processes and systems that  
will deliver enhanced capability and efficiency to 
compete in the fast-moving food-on-the-go market.

Our people and values
In 2017 we began the investment in our supply chain 
that will enable us to deliver growth whilst remaining 
competitive in terms of the quality and price of our 
products. As I reported last year this involved taking 
some difficult decisions, particularly regarding the 
organisation of our manufacturing and logistics 
operations. We have worked hard over the last year 
to carry out the necessary changes in line with our 
values. There has been much challenge and dialogue 
but the whole team has worked together with the 
best interests of the business in mind, and  
I would like to extend my thanks to all involved.

Greggs has a long history of conducting its business  
in a responsible manner. We have made great strides 
in environmental management in recent years and are 
working with others in our industry to make further 
improvements. This includes finding solutions to 
increase the proportion of packaging that can be 
recycled and ensuring that more of our surplus  
food is channelled to those who need it most.

06

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

We have a strong reputation for sharing our 
success with the communities where we operate 
and direct much of this support through the 
Greggs Foundation, which celebrated its 30th 
anniversary in 2017. Representatives of the 
Foundation attended a Board meeting in the  
year to explain how they work with the Company 
and other partners. The Foundation makes a  
real difference to the lives of people in our 
communities and is given tremendous assistance 
by staff throughout Greggs. It is a great charity 
and one that we are very proud to support.

I would like to thank everyone who has worked  
for Greggs during the past year and contributed  
to the positive impact that it has had on all of 
its stakeholders.

The Board
As we announced last year, our Retail Director 
Raymond Reynolds stepped down from the Board 
at the AGM in May 2017 but remains a key member 
of the Company’s Operating Board in his new role 
as Property and Business Development Director. 
Raymond was a member of the Board for ten years 
and I would like to thank him for his important 
contribution throughout that time.

Otherwise the composition of the Board was 
unchanged in 2017. We continued to spend a 
significant amount of time overseeing the major 
programmes of change that support the Company’s 
strategic plan, particularly the investments under 
way in our internal supply chain. Other reviews 
included emerging risk areas, including the 
uncertainties around exiting the European Union, 
and examination of customer preferences and 
behaviours and our resulting plans.

The Board also visited Northern Ireland in the year 
to see for itself the progress that Greggs has made 
establishing a presence there. It was pleasing to see 
the same levels of enthusiasm and commitment to 
doing business the right way that we experience in 
more established trading areas.

Directors continue to be encouraged to visit 
different areas of the business and experience it 
through the eyes of our colleagues and customers. 

Look closer

at our strategy and how it’s making  
a positive impact on pages 16-23

Looking beyond this we remain optimistic about 
the growth potential for Greggs and are currently 
investing to support this. The benefits of our major 
change programmes are beginning to show and 
will give us much greater capability and capacity 
for further growth in the years ahead.

Greggs continues to be a strong business with  
a great team. I am confident that we will make 
further progress in the year ahead.

Ian Durant 
Chairman
27 February 2018

This helps to ensure that Non-Executive Directors’ 
contributions to Board discussions are well informed, 
supporting open and constructive dialogue with the 
management team. This year I also spent time with  
an employee panel, a particularly helpful experience 
given the significant changes that we are making in  
our supply chain.

Further details of the Board’s work are included in  
the Governance and Committee sections of this  
Annual Report.

Dividend
Our progressive dividend policy targets an ordinary 
dividend that is two times covered by earnings,  
with any further surplus capital being returned to 
shareholders. Our Finance Director, Richard Hutton, 
outlines the expected application of the distribution 
policy in more detail in the financial review.

In line with its progressive dividend policy, the  
Board intends to recommend at the Annual General 
Meeting a final dividend of 22.0 pence per share 
(2016: 21.5 pence), giving a total ordinary dividend 
for the year of 32.3 pence (2016: 31.0 pence), an 
increase of 4.2 per cent.

Looking ahead
Greggs continues to demonstrate its resilience in  
the face of economic uncertainty. This environment 
seems unlikely to change in the short term as the UK 
negotiates its exit from the European Union, with the 
associated risks to consumer confidence and further 
cost inflation. We are alive to these risks and working 
hard to mitigate the possible impacts where we can.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

07

Strategic ReportOUR STRATEGY

Our vision is to become the customers’ favourite 
for food-on-the-go. Our strategic plan has four 
pillars and our commitment to having a positive 
impact on people’s lives is embedded across 
them all. 

GREAT 
TASTING,
freshly prepared food

BEST
customer  
experience

We provide customers with fast and friendly 
service, fixing issues without a fuss and enjoy 
making every day a great day by rewarding  
them for their loyalty. We are taking our modern  
shops to where our customers want them to be, 
becoming more and more convenient alongside 
their busy lives.

We care about our local communities.
We share our success with the people around us, 
choosing to help charities that our customers and 
people care about. That’s why we donate at least 
one per cent of our pre-tax profits to the Greggs 
Foundation and fundraise all year round for this 
fantastic charity. Since the charity was founded,  
30 years ago, it has given over £26 million  
to support the local communities that we serve. 

Turn to page 19 to find out more.

We work hard to make sure our range meets our customers’ 
needs and while our classic favourites can’t be beaten, there 
is always something new to excite them. We offer great value 
at every time of the day and care about where our ingredients 
come from.

positive impact on people’s lives

We care about the health of our customers  
and where our ingredients come from.
We publicly commit to encouraging healthier food-on-the-go 
choices and are currently working with Public Health England on 
sugar reduction in response to the Government’s commitment  
to reducing the sugar in our diets. We also signed the Food 
Foundation’s ‘Peas Please’ pledge. Our Balanced Choice range  
now accounts for more than £100 million of sales with each item 
containing fewer than 400 calories and rated green or amber on  
the nutrition traffic light system.

We’re proud of our commitment to purchasing Fairtrade products 
and take great care to ensure that the animal products used in our 
recipes are produced and delivered in a way that avoids the abuse 
or exploitation of animals. Our leadership on farm animal welfare 
has been acknowledged by the Business Benchmark on Farm 
Animal Welfare by achieving Tier 2.

Turn to page 16 to find out more.

08

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

 
We stand out from the crowd because we make 
great quality bakery products ourselves and love 
to create new things that will excite customers. 
We are always looking for ways to be more 
efficient and to support shop growth.

We care about the environment.
We aim to use energy efficiently and minimise  
waste because we want to do our bit to reduce  
the environmental impact from our operations.  
We continue to reduce our carbon footprint on  
an annual basis and we are proud holders of the  
Carbon Trust Standard in recognition of our work  
on carbon efficiencies. We use the money raised  
by the carrier bag charge to support the important 
environmental initiatives delivered by both national 
organisations such as The Rivers Trust, Keep Britain 
Tidy and Surfers Against Sewage, as well as 
grassroots projects.

Turn to page 18 to find out more.

We have well-trained people providing great 
service to their colleagues and ultimately  
our customers, and we are always looking  
to improve the way we do things by investing  
in first-class systems.

We care about our people.
We are committed to creating a great place to  
work. We are strong advocates of equality, diversity 
and inclusion and have committed to the National 
Equality Standard programme to drive this agenda 
forward in the years ahead.

Turn to page 16 to find out more.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

09

Strategic ReportCHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT

Good growth and 
further strategic 
progress

Total sales up 7.4%:

£960m

Underlying  
operating profit 
excluding property  
profits: £81.7m 

 4.6%

Delivering our strategy
Greggs is a strong and trusted brand and we  
draw on our heritage in fresh bakery to compete 
successfully in the food-on-the-go market. Our 
purpose is to make good, freshly prepared food 
accessible to everyone with the aim of becoming 
the customers’ favourite for food-on-the-go.

We are committed to conducting our business  
in a responsible manner and, in doing so,  
to have a positive impact on people’s lives.

Our strategy has four pillars:

1.  Great tasting, freshly prepared food
Greggs products are differentiated by the way we 
freshly prepare food each day in our shops and by 
offering outstanding value for good quality, great 
tasting food-on-the-go.

In 2017 we delivered another strong 
performance in challenging economic 
circumstances as rising inflation impacted 
both our own costs and customers’ 
disposable income. At the same time,  
we continued to make good progress with 
our business transformation programme, 
investing in new systems and processes  
as well as increased capacity and efficiency 
in our supply chain. We are successfully 
developing our product offer to meet 
customer needs and investing in improved 
customer service, in addition to  
accelerating growth in shop numbers.

Financial performance
Total sales grew to £960.0 million in 2017, up 7.4 per 
cent. Within this company-managed shop like-for-like 
sales grew by 3.7 per cent.

Underlying operating profit, excluding property profits 
and exceptional items, grew by 4.6 per cent to £81.7 
million (2016: £78.1 million). Pre-tax profit (including 
exceptional items) fell by 4.3 per cent to £71.9 million.

Market background 
Economic conditions became more challenging in 
2017, with business cost inflation rising significantly 
due to food ingredient and labour cost increases 
affecting the entire sector. We were able to leverage 
our scale and deliver productivity improvements to 
mitigate some of these pressures but, as expected, 
saw some year-on-year margin slippage. The market 
generally saw price inflation returning to the food 
sector, which resulted in a slowdown in disposable 
income growth for our customers.

Whilst the food-on-the-go sector remains highly 
competitive, a further year of unbroken growth in 
like-for-like sales demonstrates the continued 
relevance and strength of the Greggs brand.

10

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Look closer

at how we are being more socially 
responsible on pages 16-23

Did you  
know…
Breakfast remains 
the fastest-growing 
part of our trading 
day and we 
continue to build 
increased spend 
and visit frequency 
through menu 
development.

Making good, freshly prepared food accessible to  
all income levels is embedded in our core purpose  
as a brand with outstanding value meal deals setting 
us apart from the competition. Our product strategy 
has been to nurture and protect our market-leading 
reputation in long-established traditional bakery 
categories adapted to food-on-the-go whilst 
developing new reasons to visit Greggs by offering 
quality and value in new growth areas.

Our traditional categories, including fresh baked 
savoury snacks, freshly prepared sandwiches and 
delicious sweet bakery treats, remain our best-selling 
products and are being supported by strong growth 
in new categories.

Breakfast
Breakfast-on-the-go continues to grow strongly  
and Greggs has established a leading position by 
focusing on offering outstanding value with our 
breakfast meal deal starting at just £2. This remains 
our fastest-growing part of our trading day and  
we continue to build increased spend and visit 
frequency through menu development. Strategically 
it plays an important role in diversifying demand 
patterns, making us less reliant on general shopping 
missions and less sensitive to weather.

Hot drinks
Led by coffee at breakfast, our reputation for quality, 
value and service in this growth category continues 
to build, enabling us to extend our drinks menu 
choice. Hot drinks feature in all of our meal deal 
offers and it is this outstanding value that 
differentiates us from our competitors.

Balanced Choice
Growing public concern over obesity is driving 
increased demand for healthier choices in food-on-
the-go. Greggs has a key role to play in encouraging 
healthier food choices, making good quality freshly 
prepared food accessible nationwide at outstanding 

value. Sales of healthier options, including our 
Balanced Choice range offering fewer than 400 
calories and good nutritionals, continue to grow  
as we extend menu choice and take steps to 
encourage healthier food choices through 
disproportionate space allocation and promotion 
in our shops.

Alongside development of our Balanced Choice 
range we have adopted a proactive approach to 
supporting the Government’s Childhood Obesity 
Plan and making significant efforts to reduce salt, 
fat and sugar in our products and to encourage 
greater consumption of vegetables in the diet.

Hot food
Hot food is another area of growing customer 
demand, providing food-on-the-go solutions for 
all times of the day. Sales of hot sandwiches and 
hot soup are growing well and provide a platform 
for further menu development, which we intend 
will create the opportunity to extend trading  
in Greggs for longer in the day as our  
reputation grows.

Good food
Customers increasingly care where their food comes 
from and, because we make the majority of our food 
ourselves, we are well placed to deliver food they 
can trust. Unlike the majority of our competitors, 
who resell bought-in finished products, we are a 
large-scale food manufacturer in our own right 
dealing at source with base ingredients.

We have invested significantly in recent years, 
gaining independent accreditation for our sourcing 
and manufacturing credentials and have set out to 
lead the food-on-the-go sector in eliminating or 
reducing unnecessary ingredients at the same time 
as providing full information to allow customers to 
make informed choices.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

11

Strategic ReportCHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT CONTINUED

We have a strong pipeline of new shop openings 
for 2018 and are planning to further accelerate 
our shop growth, aiming to add in the range  
of 110-130 net new shops in the year.

Number of shops 
trading as at  
30 December 2017: 

1,854

Number of  
franchise shops 
opened in 2017: 

45

Proportion of estate 
now located in  
travel, leisure and 
work-centred 
catchments: 

34%

Looking ahead
Once again we have a strong pipeline of new 
product developments planned for the year ahead, 
strengthening traditional product areas and 
continuing to build our reputation in new  
growth categories.

We completed 132 refurbishments and franchise 
partners refurbished a further ten units. We also 
successfully developed a new Drive Thru format that 
will allow us to compete effectively in this type of 
location as we seek new sites.

2.  Best customer experience
As well as offering great tasting great value food, 
Greggs is loved by customers because of our fast 
and friendly service. Working in a Greggs shop is 
very demanding so we rely on our amazing teams  
to deliver fast, friendly service under pressure. We 
continue to invest to simplify our processes and 
increase productivity to release time for service,  
with significant gains last year from our new shop 
ordering process in addition to a best practice 
programme that we call ‘The Greggs Way’.

Our most loyal customers are signing up in rapidly 
increasing numbers to our award-winning Greggs 
Rewards scheme. The insight that this provides now 
includes satisfaction ratings and is helping to inform 
decision-making throughout the business, helping  
us to better meet customer needs every day.

Our shops 
The key consideration when customers choose where 
to shop for food-on-the-go is convenience. Being 
within easy reach for customers when they need us  
is a prerequisite and we are working hard to increase 
shop numbers in order to provide easy access 
everywhere. In 2017 we opened 131 new shops 
(including 45 franchise units) and closed 41, growing 
the estate to 1,854 shops trading as at 30 December 
2017. We opened our 202nd franchise shop and 
extended our company-managed shop reach to new 
territory in Devon, in addition to opening further shops 
in Northern Ireland.

Refurbishment of our shops slowed down last year as 
we reached the end of our programme to transform 
our legacy bakery shops to our food-on-the-go format. 

We have a strong pipeline of new shop openings  
for 2018 and are planning to further accelerate our 
shop growth, aiming to add in the range of 110-130 
net new shops in the year. In keeping with recent 
years, the majority of these new shops will increase 
our presence in travel, leisure and work-centred 
catchments. At the end of 2017 34 per cent of our 
shop estate was located in these catchment types.

3.  Competitive supply chain 
In January 2017 we communicated details of the 
next phase of our major investment programme 
focused on increasing logistics capacity and 
consolidating our manufacturing operations into 
centres of excellence in order to support shop 
growth. Once implemented this new supply chain 
platform will deliver improvements to product 
quality, our competitiveness and, alongside 
systems investment, will complete our 
transformation from traditional bakery to food- 
on-the-go.

Overall our expansion plans will create thousands 
of new roles in retail and distribution operations 
but will result in fewer jobs in manufacturing. 
Decisions such as these, which impact our people, 
are always difficult but our teams have shown 
commitment and professionalism throughout 
these changes and we have been able to agree  
a way forward on a basis of voluntary redundancy 
in the majority of cases.

This investment phase is a complicated 
programme of work which will take until 2020  
to complete. We have made a good start in  
2017, completing the transfer of our Edinburgh 
operations to our Glasgow bakery, which has been 

12

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

extended to become a centre of excellence for  
Yum Yum production, and extending our Leeds 
bakery to create a centre of excellence for cake  
and muffin manufacturing.

The year ahead will be the peak year for investment 
in the programme, including the creation of our 
centre of excellence for doughnuts in our Gosforth 
Park bakery.

Strategic change of this magnitude is always 
challenging and I am grateful for the commitment  
of our teams who have been making these changes 
whilst maintaining service standards to our shops.

4.  First class support teams
We have made further significant progress in the 
fourth year of our major process and systems 
investment programme.

In 2017 we successfully deployed our largest ever 
systems roll out, replacing our traditional shop 
ordering with a new central forecasting and 
replenishment process. We have already seen 
benefits in improved product availability for 
customers and expect to see savings start to come 
through in lower wastage figures as we become 
more experienced with the system’s capabilities.

In the second half of the year we successfully 
deployed pilots in both logistics and manufacturing 
which will be rolled out alongside our supply chain 
investment programme.

Scoping work has also begun for the remaining SAP 
support modules, with human resources, payroll and 
property management to be implemented in 2018.

Having a positive impact on people’s lives
Greggs has a long-standing tradition and 
reputation as a socially responsible business and 
as such we want our actions to have a positive 
impact on people’s lives. This ambition covers  
a broad range of stakeholders and in 2017 we 
made further improvements in all areas and  
were pleased to achieve an increase to a ‘4.5 star’  
rating in the Business in the Community CR index 
in early 2018.

We encourage healthier food-on-the-go choices
As a leading bakery food-on-the-go retailer we 
recognise that many of the products we sell are 
traditional favourites best eaten in moderation.  
As such we aim to capture as much of the demand 
for these products as possible in a highly-
competitive market but at the same time we are 
taking steps to encourage customers to see 
Greggs as a food-on-the-go retailer selling a 
variety of products, including healthier options.

Our range of Balanced Choice products offers  
that choice at below 400 calories with good 
nutritional values and now represents more than 
£100 million of sales. We are committed to 
encouraging customers to make healthier food- 
on-the-go choices and are taking active steps by 
offering this range in all of our shops nationwide, 
providing access to all and allocating prominent  
and disproportionate space to bring these products  
to customers’ attention.

Alongside Balanced Choice we are working on 
sugar reduction, in addition to the salt and fat 
reductions seen in recent years. Other initiatives 
include working with New Cross Hospital in 
Wolverhampton to redesign the retail format of 
our shop there and the product range to meet  
the requirements of NHS guidance. In addition,  
in 2017 we made the ‘Pledge for Veg’ in partnership 
with the Food Foundation, through which we will 
help customers to increase their vegetable intake 
through design of our salads, soups and 
cold sandwiches.

Did you  
know…
Our healthier options 
are increasingly 
popular – Balanced 
Choice now accounts 
for over £100m  
of sales.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

13

Strategic ReportCHIEF EXECUTIVE’S REPORT CONTINUED

Community 
In 2017, we 
increased the 
amount of end-of-
day food donations 
by 45 per cent.

We care where our products come from
All the tea, coffee, hot chocolate, orange juice, apple 
juice and bananas we sell are certified Fairtrade.  
We source our prawns and tuna from sustainable 
sources and have recently maintained our Tier 2  
status, despite increased requirements, in the Business 
Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare. In our internal 
supply chain the majority of our manufacturing sites 
have achieved AA standard on version seven of the 
BRC Global standard for food safety.

We share our success with the community around us
We continue to share our success with the local 
communities in which we operate. In 2017 this 
included increasing the amount of end-of-day food 
that we donated to good causes by 45 per cent and 
continuing to support the work of the Greggs 
Foundation, which celebrated its 30th anniversary  
in 2017. Through the generous support of Greggs 
and other donors and fundraisers, including our staff 
and customers, the Greggs Foundation was able to 
distribute £3.1 million to support a wide range of 
initiatives that improve the quality of life in our local 
communities. These included the award-winning 
Greggs Breakfast Club programme which, with 
support from 80 partners, now provides six million 
free wholesome breakfasts each year to children  
in over 465 primary schools.

We aim to use energy efficiently and minimise waste
We hold the Carbon Trust Standard in recognition  
of our work on carbon efficiencies and our 
Environmental Management System is certificated  
to ISO 14001. We continue to trial technologies  
that could help to reduce our carbon footprint  
even further in the years ahead.

We know that coffee cup recycling is a significant 
issue and, as a responsible business, we are 
working hard to reduce our impact on the 
environment and do our bit to help find a solution. 
We are currently conducting a trial in 20 shops 
across Manchester and Liverpool city centres to 
establish feasibility for in-store recycling of hot 
drinks cups. This will give us the opportunity to 
ensure we have a robust and effective process  
in place before potentially rolling out further.  
In addition, we sell reusable hot drinks cups in  
all of our shops and offer customers a 20 pence 
discount when using a reusable cup. Greggs is 
also part of the Paper Cup Recycling and Recovery 
Group and is working with others in the industry 
towards delivering a long-term, nationwide paper 
cup recycling solution. We continue to work  
hard with our suppliers to further improve our hot 
drink cups to ensure that they are as sustainable  
as possible.

Reducing the use of plastic in society is another 
issue where we are trying to play our part. As a 
vertically-integrated business we have a natural 
advantage in making most of our products 
ourselves and controlling the way in which they  
are distributed. For example, we distribute  
food to our shops using reusable trays and have 
separation processes behind the scenes to 
support recycling. Going forward, we aim to 
reduce further the amount of plastic involved  
in our processes.

14

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

We are committed to creating a great place to work
We pay all of our people more than the National 
Living Wage, including those under the age of 25. 
We share ten per cent of our profits with employees 
and will be sharing a record £9.2 million with our 
people as a result of our strong performance in 2017.

Our Employee Opinion Survey engagement score  
has increased by five percentage points over the last 
two years; 81 per cent of our people say they feel 
committed to Greggs and to helping us achieve our 
goals. However, we are not complacent and in the  
year ahead will be working towards achieving the 
National Equality Standard as part of our commitment 
to make Greggs an even better place to work. We are 
committed to supporting the development of all our 
colleagues, in particular our talented female 
colleagues, as we work towards reducing our gender 
pay gap, which currently stands at 22 per cent. We 
have made good progress with this in recent years  
and at Board level have exceeded government 
guidelines with 43 per cent of our Board being women.

Further details of all of our actions in these areas are 
described elsewhere in this annual report.

Outlook for 2018
Whilst the UK consumer outlook remains 
challenging, with industry-wide cost pressures 
expected to moderate but continue in the year 
ahead, we are encouraged by the start to the year. 
Company-managed shop like-for-like sales in the 
eight weeks to 24 February 2018 have grown by 
3.2 per cent, and total sales are up 6.2 per cent.

2018 will be the peak year for investment in our 
supply chain as we create the platforms for further 
growth. We also plan to open a record number of 
new shops as we implement our plan to grow 
Greggs as a leading food-on-the-go brand.

We will be sharing  
a record £9.2 million 
with our people,  
due to our strong 
performance in 2017: 

£9.2m

81% of our people 
say they feel 
committed 
to Greggs: 

81%

Roger Whiteside
Chief Executive
27 February 2018

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

15

Strategic ReportSTRATEGY IN ACTION

We are investing  
in our future…

We care about our people 
and value their opinion

We work hard to ensure Greggs is a great place  
to work and that our people feel valued. 

Now in its second year, our dedicated employee 
health and wellness initiative ‘Balanced You’, which 
covers four key areas: healthy eating and drinking, 
keeping active and physically well, healthy social life 
and good relationships, and positive mental 
wellbeing, received a Bronze award from Better 
Health at Work.

Roger Whiteside signed the Time to Change 
Employer Pledge, illustrating our long-term 
commitment to raising awareness about the 
importance of mental health and wellbeing at  
work and helping to break the culture of silence 
around mental health.

16

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

We are committed to 
helping improve the health 
of our customers

We believe in offering our customers choice so, 
alongside our traditional favourites, you’ll see a whole 
host of healthier options including savouries, 
sandwiches, salads, porridge and soup. Our Balanced 
Choice range continues to grow in popularity and now 
accounts for more than £100 million of sales. 

We have made a number of public commitments to 
highlight that we’re serious about customer health. 
We are currently working with Public Health England 
on sugar reduction in response to the Government’s 
commitment to reducing the sugar in our diets. We 
made a ‘Pledge for Veg’ in partnership with the Food 
Foundation which will enable us to help customers 
increase their vegetable intake through our salads, 
soups and cold sandwiches.

Balanced 
Choice
Our Balanced 
Choice range 
continues to grow 
and now accounts 
for over £100m  
of sales.

Strategy 
links

Sustainability 
links

Great tasting, freshly 
prepared food

Best customer  
experience

Competitive  
supply chain

First class  
support teams

Customer 
health

Responsible 
sourcing

Community

Environment

People

We aim to donate as much unsold 
food to charity as we can

We have been donating unsold food from shops for many 
years. Traditionally our bakeries would team up with larger 
charities who would collect the unsold food from us and 
distribute to their own network of smaller charities.

While this process is still in place, we have also been working 
hard to increase the amount of unsold food donated by our 
shops to local good causes where we can find an outlet.  
To this end, we ramped up our campaign in 2017. This involved 
creating a dedicated application page for unsold food 
donations on the Greggs Foundation website. We also have  
a sign placed prominently in our shops inviting customers to 
come forward if they know of a good cause that could benefit 
from unsold food. The amount of unsold food we donate has 
increased by 45 per cent in the last 12 months.

Our customers can

TRUST

what our food is made of

We are incredibly grateful to Greggs for the 
delicious support it has provided to our Contact 
the Elderly groups in Scotland. The unsold food 
is welcomed by our tea party groups which 
meet once a month, giving older people who 
live alone the chance to enjoy a vital lifeline of 
friendship. Contact the Elderly relies upon the 
kindness of the local community to make an 
immeasurable difference to the lives of older 
people. By supporting our work in this way, 
Greggs has played an integral role in this  
wider community kindness.

Janice Kerr, Development Officer  
at Contact the Elderly

We care where our 
ingredients come from

We only buy free-range whole eggs and we are 
proud to have received Compassion in World 
Farming’s Good Egg award. Our tuna is caught by 
pole and line fishing or by using methods without 
any Fish Aggregating Devices and all of our prawns 
are from MSC certified sustainable sources. We only 
use palm-derived fats and oils in our ingredients, 
that are certified as sustainable. We measure our 
progress against the Business Benchmark on Farm 
Animal Welfare and we’re proud to have moved our 
rating from Tier 5 to Tier 2 over the last three years.

We’re committed to making a positive difference 
through our commitment to purchasing Fairtrade 
products. All the tea, coffee, hot chocolate, sugar 
sachets, orange juice, apple juice, peppermint tea, 
green tea and bananas we sell are certified Fairtrade. 
We were proud to once again be a high-street 
partner for ‘Fairtrade Fortnight’ in 2018.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

17

Strategic ReportSTRATEGY IN ACTION CONTINUED

We are proud of the 
Greggs Foundation 

In 2017, the Greggs Foundation 
celebrated its 30th birthday. In that time, 
through the provision of its five main 
grant programmes, North East core 
funding grant, local community projects 
fund grant, environmental grant, hardship 
fund grant and breakfast clubs, the 
Foundation has donated over £26 million 
to help improve the quality of life of 
people in local communities.

18

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

We care about  
the environment 

We have been successful over several years in 
reducing the carbon footprint of our operations 
and, whilst this programme continues, we are now 
turning our attention towards specific problems 
such as product packaging. We have the advantage 
of selling most of our products freshly prepared in 
shop and in that way require less packaging than 
factory food competitors. Nevertheless we are 
committed to further reducing the use of plastic  
in our processes. 

Alongside this, money raised by the carrier bag 
charge is being used to support local community 
environmental projects through the Greggs 
Foundation and environmental initiatives delivered 
by national organisations such as The Rivers Trust, 
Keep Britain Tidy and Surfers Against Sewage.

We’re committed 
to reducing our 
annual carbon 
footprint and 
achieved a 15% 
reduction in 
intensity in 2017. 
We’re proud 
holders of the 
Carbon Trust 
Standard in 
recognition of our 
work on carbon 
efficiencies.

A reduction of:

15%

Surfers Against Sewage is delighted to work with Greggs to  
grow the impact of our work to tackle litter and plastic waste in 
communities right around the UK. Together we are inspiring and 
educating thousands of school children to take action to protect  
the beaches, parks and playgrounds they love, and mobilising 
thousands of beach clean volunteers in every part of the country. 
Together we really are making a difference to community spaces.

Hugo Tagholm, CEO, Surfers Against Sewage

In 2017, we opened 
48 new breakfast 
clubs, taking the 
total number to  
454. This means 
that we are helping 
to ensure that 
28,900 children  
a day (that’s circa  
6 million breakfasts 
a year!) are getting 
the best possible 
start to their  
school day with  
a nutritious 
breakfast.

450+
Breakfast Clubs

We support those in need  
through charitable giving

The Greggs Foundation isn’t the only charity we support.  
We also fundraise for a number of other charities which our 
people and customers feel passionate about, including BBC 
Children in Need, the Poppy Appeal and the Disasters 
Emergency Committee (DEC). 

We are also proud supporters of the North of England 
Children’s Cancer Research charity and are the main sponsor 
of its annual Children’s Cancer Run. To date, the run has 
raised over £30 million to fund research into improving 
recovery rates. In 2017, we celebrated our 11th anniversary 
supporting BBC Children in Need. During that time, our team 
members and customers have helped raise over £8.5 million 
for the charity – something we are all incredibly proud of!

We want our business to have a

positive impact

on people’s lives

Understanding and 
rewarding our loyal 
customers through  
Greggs Rewards 

Our award-winning loyalty scheme, Greggs Rewards, 
has had a very successful year and has provided 
numerous benefits to both our customers and our 
shop teams. The app has grown in popularity across 
the UK throughout the year. We surpassed the one 
million customer downloads milestone along with 
achieving the No 1 slot in the App Store after we 
helped ease students back into university life with a 
free Greggs lunch. We rewarded our customers with 
a wide variety of their favourite products via the app, 
whilst launching new technology that enables them 
to instantly rate our products and service after 
shopping with us. This information will prove 
invaluable in helping our shop teams to deliver  
a great Greggs customer experience every day.

Greggs plc Annual Report and Accounts 2017

19

Strategic ReportWe are taking Greggs  
to new areas 

Convenience is key when it comes to customer 
choice and, as the internet changes the way we shop 
and our food-on-the go eating habits, we have been 
opening new shops to take Greggs to where our 
customers want us to be. In 2017, we accelerated our 
shop growth, opening 131 new shops, including 45 
franchise shops focused on travel locations, reaching 
a significant milestone as we celebrated our 200th 
franchise shop opening. We opened a new Drive 
Thru format in Irlam, Manchester and we took 
Greggs to new territory in Devon whilst opening 
further shops in Northern Ireland.

New shops opened  
in 2017:

Franchise shops in  
travel locations:

131

45

STRATEGY IN ACTION CONTINUED

We are proud to fuel the  
nation at breakfast time

Breakfast remains our fastest growing part of the day  
and we have established a leading position by offering our 
customers outstanding value at just £2 for a breakfast deal 
– an offer we are proud to hold for the eighth year running. 
We continue to build on our reputation for high quality, 
great tasting, good value coffee and increased our hot 
drinks menu choice with the introduction of flavoured 
lattes towards the end of the year.

We are 

OPEN

when our customers  
want us to be, including  
from 7am and on Sundays

20

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

We are making great progress  
in transforming our supply chain

In 2017, we made great progress in our £100 million supply  
chain investment programme to increase logistics capacity, 
consolidate our manufacturing operations into centres of 
excellence to improve product quality and support shop 
growth, allowing us to compete more effectively in the  
food-on-the-go market. We completed the transfer of our 
operations in Edinburgh to our Glasgow bakery which we  
have extended to create a centre of excellence for Yum Yum 
production. We also extended our Leeds bakery to create  
a centre of excellence for cake and muffin production. 

£100m

to reshape 
our supply chain to 
support shop growth

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

21

Strategic ReportSTRATEGY IN ACTION CONTINUED

We are proud of  
our bakery heritage

We are proud of our heritage and our long-
established traditional bakery categories such as 
freshly baked savoury snacks, freshly prepared 
sandwiches and delicious sweet bakery treats 
remain our best-selling products. Greggs iconic 
sausage roll remains our number one bestseller.

We have been making

GREAT
QUALITY
bakery products 
OURSELVES 
for over 75 years

22

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

We love to excite our customers 
with new reasons to visit Greggs

In 2017, we delivered an exciting variety of new products 
including additions to our hot food range with sales of our hot 
sandwiches and gluten-free soup growing well. More products 
will feature in 2018 as we create new reasons to visit us for 
food-on-the-go, at all times of the day.

We believe in equality,  
diversity and inclusion

At Greggs we are committed to treating our people equally and 
ensuring that everyone – no matter what their background, race, 
ethnicity or gender – has an opportunity to develop. We are 
signatories to the National Equality Standard and are committed 
to supporting the development of all our colleagues, in particular 
our talented female colleagues, as we work towards reducing our 
gender pay gap. We have made good progress with this in recent 
years and at Board level have exceeded Government guidelines 
with 43 per cent of our Board being women.

81% =

Our Employee Opinion Survey engagement 
score has increased by two percentage 
points over the last two years. 81 per cent  
of our people say they feel committed to 
Greggs and to helping us achieve our goals.

We are investing to improve 
our customer service

As well as our great tasting, great value food,  
our customers love our fast and friendly service.  
We have been investing to further improve our 
customer service by putting simpler processes  
in place which will help to increase the productivity 
of our amazing teams.

21,000

well trained colleagues 
provide great service  
to their customers

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

23

Strategic ReportFINANCIAL REVIEW

Another year of 
good financial 
performance 

Pre-tax profit before exceptional items was  
£81.8 million (2016: £80.3 million). Including 
exceptional items, pre-tax profit was £71.9 million 
(2016: £75.1 million).

Exceptional items
In 2016 we commenced the first phase of our 
major investment programme to reshape our 
internal supply chain, and this has continued 
throughout 2017. Activity in 2017 included the 
relocation of Yum Yum manufacturing to our 
Glasgow site, and expansion of that site to 
consolidate our distribution activity in Scotland 
following the closure in May of our Edinburgh 
bakery. In addition, we consolidated 
manufacturing of small cakes and muffins at  
our Leeds bakery and relocated our pizza 
manufacturing to our Manchester site.

Total Group sales for 
the 52 weeks ended 
30 December 2017: 

£960m

Like-for-like sales in 
company-managed 
shops grew by: 

3.7%

In 2017 we delivered another good financial 
performance, mitigating the impact of 
increased cost inflation whilst managing  
a significant investment programme.  
The costs of this programme, along with 
continued growth in our estate, were  
all self-funded from our strong cash  
flow, whilst we also increased dividends  
to shareholders.

Revenue
Operating profit (excluding exceptional 

items and property profits)

Property profits

Operating profit (excluding  

exceptional items)

Operating margin (excluding 

exceptional items

Finance expense

Profit before taxation (excluding 

exceptional items)

Exceptional items

Profit before taxation

2017 
£m 

2016 
£m 

960.0  894.2 

81.7 
0.5 

78.1
2.2 

82.2  80.3 

8.6% 9.0% 
(0.0)

(0.4)

81.8
(9.9)

71.9 

80.3
(5.2)

75.1 

Sales
Total Group sales for the 52 weeks ended 30 December 
2017 were £960.0 million (2016: £894.2 million), an 
increase of 7.4 per cent. Sales in company-managed 
shops with more than one calendar year’s trading 
history (’like-for-like’) grew by 3.7 per cent to £817.5 
million (2016: £788.5 million). We also saw like-for-like 
and total sales growth in our franchised shop estate.

Profit
Operating profit before exceptional items was 
£82.2 million (2016: £80.3 million). This included  
a £0.5 million contribution from property disposals 
(2016: £2.2 million). Excluding the impact of property 
profits from both years, the underlying growth in 
operating profit was 4.6 per cent. The result reflects 
strong sales growth in a year when, as expected,  
we experienced higher than historical cost inflation.

24

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Look closer

at the KPIs we use to monitor the 
performance of the Group against  
our strategy on page 28

Did you  
know…
In 2017, we 
relocated our Yum 
Yum manufacturing 
to our Glasgow site. 
In addition, we 
consolidated 
manufacturing of 
cakes and muffins  
to our Leeds bakery 
and relocated our 
pizza manufacturing  
to Manchester.

Including related exceptional property gains, the total 
exceptional charge in relation to this programme was 
£10.1 million in 2017 (2016: £6.4 million). After adjustments 
made for the reversal of prior year exceptional costs the 
total exceptional charge for the year was £9.9 million 
(2016: £5.2 million), comprised as follows:

Supply chain restructuring:
 – redundancy costs
 – transfer of operations
 – property-related

Total cash costs of supply chain 

restructuring

 –  depreciation and asset write-offs
 – property disposal gains

Net supply chain restructuring charge

2017 
£m 

2016 
£m 

7.4 
1.3 
0.5 

9.2 

1.3 
(0.4)

10.1 

4.1 
0.4 
– 

4.5 

1.9 
– 

6.4 

Restructuring of support functions

– 

0.4 

Release of prior years’ 
exceptional items:

 – dilapidations
 – other property provisions
 –  restructuring of support functions

Total exceptional items

– 
(0.2)
– 

(0.5)
(0.9)
(0.2)

9.9

5.2 

We continue to expect the total exceptional cash costs 
of our supply chain investment programme, excluding 
any associated property disposal gains, to be in the 
region of £25.0 million. Our expectation of non-cash 
costs (accelerated depreciation and asset write-offs) 
associated with the programme has reduced to £5.0 
million (previously £7.0 million). Total charges so far 
have totalled £16.5 million and we expect a further 
£6.0 million in 2018.

A property gain of £0.4 million resulting from the 
disposal of our Edinburgh site was treated as 
exceptional in the year because the site closure came 
as a result of the overall supply chain restructuring 
programme. We have now exchanged contracts for the 
conditional disposal of our vacant Twickenham site. 
Should this progress to completion, any resultant profit 
will also be treated as an exceptional gain. We continue 
to expect the total proceeds arising from supply chain 
site disposals to be in line with those anticipated in our 
investment plan.

In 2017 the total cash impact of exceptional items 
was a net outflow of £1.9 million (2016: £3.8 million 
cash outflow). We expect the 2018 cash outflow in 
respect of exceptional items to be c.£12.5 million.

Operating margin
Operating margin before finance expenses and 
exceptional items was 8.6 per cent (2016: 9.0 per 
cent). Including exceptional items, the operating 
margin was 7.5 per cent (2016: 8.4 per cent).

Gross margin before exceptional items was stable 
year-on-year at 63.7 per cent (2016: 63.7 per cent). 
We experienced high levels of food input cost 
inflation for most of the year but the impact of this 
on gross margin was partly mitigated by lower costs 
in our supply chain as a result of site closures. 
Including exceptional items gross margin was  
62.7 per cent (2016: 63.2 per cent).

In an inflationary environment savings from our 
actions to make the business simpler and more 
efficient have become even more important. In 
2017 we delivered savings of £9.7 million (2016: 
£7.1 million). Benefits were achieved through 
procurement initiatives and as a result of 
improvements across our retail and supply chain 
operations. Cost inflation will continue to be a 
headwind in 2018 and we will redouble our efforts 
to mitigate this impact through our efforts to make 
the business more efficient.

As noted above, in 2017 we recognised gains on 
the disposal of freehold properties totalling £0.5 
million (2016: £2.2 million). These were in addition 
to the property gain on disposal of our Edinburgh 
site, which was treated as exceptional.

Financing charges
There was a net financing expense of £0.4 million 
in the year (2016: £0.0 million) reflecting the 
funding position of the defined benefit pension 
scheme, partially offset by interest received and 
exchange gains. In the year ahead we expect to 
incur a financing expense of around £0.2 million 
relating to the net liability of the pension scheme 
at the start of the year.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

25

Strategic ReportFINANCIAL REVIEW CONTINUED

The performance of new shops  
opened in 2017 was encouraging,  
with sales above the level expected  
at the time of investment.

Amount invested on 
capital expenditure 
in the business 
during 2017: 

£70.4m

Return on capital 
employed (excluding 
exceptionals)  
for 2017: 

26.9%

Balance sheet
Capital expenditure
We invested a total of £70.4 million (2016: 
£80.4 million) on capital expenditure in the 
business during 2017, less than we had originally 
expected due to later phasing of a number of new 
shop openings and supply chain projects. The 
total included £40.8 million for development and 
maintenance of our retail estate and £4.4 million  
in respect of IT infrastructure. Investment in our 
supply chain of £23.4 million included works at  
our Glasgow and Leeds bakeries to consolidate 
production of Yum Yums, small cakes and muffins, 
and preparations for further such projects in 
Manchester and Newcastle in the year ahead. 
Depreciation and amortisation in the year was 
£53.5 million (2016: £45.6 million).

2018 will be a year of record investment in the 
business as we reach the peak of our capital 
expenditure on consolidation of our manufacturing 
activities. This aspect of our investment 
programme is expected to require around 
£45 million of capital expenditure in 2018.  
We will also continue to grow and diversify our 
shop estate through the opening of c.90 new 
company-managed shops, with further openings 
funded by franchise partners. Overall we plan 
capital expenditure of around £95 million in 2018.

There will be further investment to complete our 
supply chain programme across 2019 and 2020 
and the bulk of the work to modernise our IT 
systems should also complete in this timeframe. 
Assuming that we invest to support continued 
growth of c.100 net shops per year then we  
expect capital expenditure of c.£95 million in  
2019 reducing to c.£80 million in 2020. 

Taxation
The Company has a simple corporate structure, carries 
out its business entirely in the UK and all taxes are paid 
there. We aim to act with integrity and transparency in 
respect of our taxation obligations.

Excluding the effect of exceptional items the Group’s 
underlying effective tax rate was 20.7 per cent (2016: 
22.5 per cent). The overall tax rate for the year including 
exceptional items was 20.9 per cent (2016: 22.8 per 
cent). The year-on-year reduction in the effective rate 
primarily reflected reductions in the headline rate of 
corporation tax and settlement of prior year 
tax computations.

We expect the effective rate for 2018 to be around 
21.25 per cent and that the effective rate going forward 
will continue to be around two per cent above the 
headline corporation tax rate. This is principally due  
to disallowed expenditure such as depreciation on 
non-tax-deductible qualifying properties and costs  
of acquisition of new shops.

Earnings per share
Diluted earnings per share before exceptional  
items were 63.5 pence (2016: 60.8 pence), an 
increase of 4.4 per cent. Basic earnings per share 
before exceptional items were 64.5 pence (2016: 
62.0 pence). Including exceptional items diluted 
earnings per share were 55.7 pence (2016: 56.7 
pence) and basic earnings per share were 56.6  
pence (2016: 57.8 pence).

Dividend
The Board recommends a final ordinary dividend  
of 22.0 pence per share (2016: 21.5 pence). Together 
with the interim dividend of 10.3 pence (2016: 9.5 
pence) paid in October 2017, this makes a total 
ordinary dividend for the year of 32.3 pence (2016: 
31.0 pence). This is covered two times by diluted 
earnings per share before exceptional items in line 
with our progressive dividend policy. Our policy on 
special distributions is outlined below under ’Cash 
flow and capital structure’.

Subject to the approval of shareholders at the Annual 
General Meeting, the final dividend will be paid on 
18 May 2018 to shareholders on the register on 
20 April 2018.

26

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Working capital
Group net current liabilities decreased to £21.4 
million at the end of 2017 (2016: £28.8 million).  
We held higher cash balances at the end of 2017  
as a result of delays in the phasing of capital 
expenditure, as noted above. Inventory levels rose  
by £2.8 million and receivables rose by £2.7 million  
in the year. The £6.5 million increase in current 
liabilities largely reflected a higher level of 
restructuring provisions resulting from the changes 
made to our supply chain in the year.

Pension scheme liability
The net liability shown on the balance sheet for the 
Company’s closed defined benefit pension scheme 
reduced to £7.5 million (2016: £22.9 million). The assets 
of the scheme performed strongly in 2017, reducing  
the liability by £8.8 million. In addition, in order to 
reflect scheme experience, an allowance has now been 
included in the valuation for expected commutation  
of pensions. This reduced the liability by £7.0 million.  
The scheme underwent a full actuarial revaluation in 
2017, which showed no current requirement for 
Company contributions.

Return on capital
We manage return on capital against predetermined 
targets and monitor performance through our 
Investment Board, where all capital expenditure is 
subject to rigorous appraisal before and after it is 
made. For investments in new shops we target an 
average cash return on invested capital of 25 per cent, 
with a hurdle rate of 22.5 per cent, over an average 
investment cycle of seven years. Other investments are 
appraised using discounted cash flow analysis.

The performance of new shops opened in 2017 was 
encouraging, with sales above the level expected at 
the time of investment. New shops opened in 2016 are 
maturing well and are now above our target for return 
on investment. We continue to see particularly strong 
returns on the relocation of shops within their 
existing catchments.

We delivered an overall return on capital employed 
(ROCE) for 2017 of 26.9 per cent excluding exceptional 
items (2016: 28.1 per cent). The reduction in ROCE was 
expected given the level of supply chain investment in 
the year.

Cash flow and capital structure
The net cash inflow from operating activities in  
the year was £116.9 million (2016: £117.6 million). 
At the end of the year the Group had net cash  
and cash equivalents of £54.5 million (2016:  
£46.0 million).

Having taken into account the views of 
shareholders the Board continues to believe  
that it is appropriate to maintain a target year-end 
net cash position of around £40 million to allow  
for seasonality in our working capital cycle and  
to protect the interests of all creditors.

Looking forward we intend to maintain our 
progressive dividend policy and, to the extent  
that we have material surplus capital within the 
Group, the Board would expect to return capital 
to shareholders, likely by way of special dividends.  
In 2018 we expect that cash generated will be 
required to meet the Group’s investment plans 
whilst paying ordinary dividends in line with  
our policy.

Richard Hutton
Finance Director
27 February 2018

Did you  
know…
2018 will be a  
year of record 
investment in the 
business as we 
reach the peak  
of our capital 
expenditure on 
consolidation of 
our manufacturing 
activities.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

27

Strategic ReportFINANCIAL KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

We use eight key financial 
performance indicators (KPIs) 
to monitor the performance of 
the Group against our strategy 

The definition of these KPIs and our performance over the last five years is detailed 
below. All of the non-GAAP measures detailed can be calculated from the GAAP 
measures included in the annual accounts or are detailed on page 106. Commentary  
on these KPIs is contained within the financial review:

Total sales growth:

7.4%

Like-for-like sales growth:

3.7%

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

7.4%

7.0%

5.2%

4.7%

2017

2016

2015

2014

3.8%

-0.8%

2013

3.7%

4.2%

4.7%

4.5%

The percentage year-on-year change in total sales for the  
Group, adjusted for the impact of a 53-week year in 2014. 

Compares year-on-year cash sales in our company-managed 
shops, excluding any shops which opened, relocated or closed 
in the current or prior year. Like-for-like sales growth includes 
selling price inflation and excludes VAT. The impact of shop 
refurbishment is included in like-for-like sales growth. The 
calculation of these figures for the current and prior year can  
be found on page 106.

Operating profit:

£82.2 million

Operating margin:

8.6%

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

£72.3

£82.2

£80.3

£75.2

£73.1
£73.1

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

£58.1

£49.6

£41.5

£33.4

8.6%

7.5%

9.0%

8.4%

8.7%
8.7%

7.2%

6.1%

5.4%

4.4%

Reflects the performance of the Group before financing  
and taxation impacts and the underlying measure excludes  
any exceptional items arising in the year. 

Shows the operating profit of the Group as a percentage  
of turnover. The underlying measure excludes any exceptional 
items arising in the year.

28

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Look closer

at how we measure our progress 
with non-financial KPIs overleaf

Graph keys

  Underlying 

  Including exceptional items

Diluted earnings per share (pence):

Capital expenditure: 

63.5p

£70.4 million

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

63.5p

55.7p

60.8p

56.7p

55.8p
55.8p

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

43.4p

36.8p

30.6p

23.9p

£70.4

£71.7

£80.4

£48.9

£47.6

Calculated by dividing profit attributable to shareholders by the 
average number of dilutive outstanding shares. The underlying 
measure excludes any exceptional items arising in the year.

The total amount incurred in the year on investment  
in fixed assets. 

Net cash inflow from operating activities:

Return on capital employed (ROCE): 

£116.9 million

26.9%

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

£116.9

£117.6

£103.7

£97.1

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

£69.3

26.9%

23.7%

28.1%

26.3%

26.8%
26.8%

22.4%

19.1%

16.4%

13.2%

Operating profit adjusted for the impact of non-cash items  
and working capital movements.

Calculated by dividing profit before tax by the average total 
assets less current liabilities for the year. The underlying 
measure excludes any exceptional items arising in the year.  
The calculation of these figures for the current and prior year 
can be found on page 106.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

29

Strategic ReportNON-FINANCIAL KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

We continue to integrate social  
responsibility into our business strategy 

We continue to report our targets as non-financial KPIs under the five areas of focus. All of our targets  
and commitments are delivered under the guidance and ownership of Operating Board Champions –  
as illustrated below – with overall ownership by the Chief Executive. Our Social Responsibility Steering  
Group is convened by our Company Secretary and meets on a quarterly basis to review progress.

KPI

Our  
commitment

2017 targets

Customer health 
We encourage 
healthier food-on-the-
go choices

Responsible  
sourcing 
We care about  
where our ingredients 
come from

Community 
We share our success 
with the people 
around us

 – Increase sales of Balanced Choice by at least £10 million

 – Implement our Clean Label plan across our savoury and bread products

 – Engage with the external supply chain to meet our Modern Slavery  

Policy Obligations 

 – Develop a five-year strategy for cage-free egg ingredients

 – Maintain our BBFAW Tier 2 Standard in relation to  

Animal Welfare

 – All of our retail paper and board packaging to be from 

accredited sustainable materials

Commercial  

Director

12

RESPONSIBLE

CONSUMPTION

AND PRODUCTION

 – Work with our partners to further extend our Breakfast Club scheme to 440 schools 

 – Support the Greggs Foundation to donate more than £2 million through our 

fundraising activity

 – Evaluate and improve our Environmental Grants Programme

 – Work with Greggs Foundation to maximise its impact

 – Launch a national initiative in Breakfast Club schools  

to promote good food choices

Finance 

Director

11

SUSTAINABLE CITIES 

AND COMMUNITIES

Environment
We aim to use  
energy efficiently  
and minimise waste

 – Continue to develop our Environmental Management System to maintain our 

ISO14001 accreditation across all our operations

 – Continue to review our operational activities to support a reduction of our carbon 

footprint intensity by a further 1%

 – Increase the amount of unsold food donations by a further 50% (based on 2016 results)

 – Increase redistribution of unsold food by 10% (compared  

People
We are committed  
to creating a great 
place to work

 – Drive activities to further improve employee engagement through flexible working 

 – Achieve third-party accreditation for Balanced You, our health and wellbeing programme

 – Successfully deliver our year one action plan to achieve National Equality Standard 

accreditation in 2019

 – Continue to drive health and safety engagement to reduce reportable accidents per 

hours worked in retail by 5%

 – Continue to drive health and safety engagement to reduce reportable accidents per 

hours worked in our supply chain by 10%

 – Further develop and deliver our online development tool across the business to enhance 

development opportunities for our people 

1   We continue to drive our Balanced Choice range and were pleased to increase our sales by a further £2 million in 2017.
2    Our operational teams worked extremely hard in identifying new opportunities for unsold food donations in 2017 finding a large number of local community 

organisations to work with resulting in a 45% increase in the amount of food donations. We will continue to place our efforts in working with local community groups 
to find new routes for redistribution as well as further investigating how we could work with any national organisations to further increase donations wherever we can.

30

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Status*

2018 targets

Champion

United Nations 

Sustainable 

Development Goals

 – Increase sales of healthier choices by 10% (based on  

2017 results)

 – Reduce sugar by 5% in line with the Government’s Childhood 

Obesity Plan (based on 2015)

Commercial  

Director

3

GOOD HEALTH

AND WELL-BEING

1

3

 – Reduce the amount of single-use plastics used within our stores 

and increase the level of segregation and recycling for key 

2

 – Further reduce our carbon footprint intensity by 2%

Property and 

Business 

Development  

Director

13

CLIMATE 

ACTION

packaging types

to 2017 result)

 – Complete the relaunch of our ‘culture and values’ programme 

 – Successfully deliver our 2-year action plan following our National 

Equality Standard Audit in 2017

 – Continue to drive health and safety engagement to reduce 

reportable incidents across our operations by 10%

Retail and 

People  

Director

10

REDUCED 

INEQUALITIES

 
 
 
 
Customer health 

We encourage 

healthier food-on-the-

go choices

Responsible  

sourcing 

We care about  

where our ingredients 

come from

Community 

We share our success 

with the people 

around us

KPI

Our  

commitment

2017 targets

 – Increase sales of Balanced Choice by at least £10 million

 – Implement our Clean Label plan across our savoury and bread products

Status*

2018 targets

Champion

United Nations 
Sustainable 
Development Goals

1

 – Increase sales of healthier choices by 10% (based on  

2017 results)

 – Reduce sugar by 5% in line with the Government’s Childhood 

Obesity Plan (based on 2015)

Commercial  
Director

3

GOOD HEALTH
AND WELL-BEING

 – Engage with the external supply chain to meet our Modern Slavery  

Policy Obligations 

 – Develop a five-year strategy for cage-free egg ingredients

 – Maintain our BBFAW Tier 2 Standard in relation to  

Animal Welfare

 – All of our retail paper and board packaging to be from 

accredited sustainable materials

Commercial  
Director

12

RESPONSIBLE
CONSUMPTION
AND PRODUCTION

 – Work with our partners to further extend our Breakfast Club scheme to 440 schools 

 – Support the Greggs Foundation to donate more than £2 million through our 

fundraising activity

 – Evaluate and improve our Environmental Grants Programme

 – Work with Greggs Foundation to maximise its impact

 – Launch a national initiative in Breakfast Club schools  

to promote good food choices

Finance 
Director

11

SUSTAINABLE CITIES 
AND COMMUNITIES

Environment

We aim to use  

energy efficiently  

and minimise waste

 – Continue to develop our Environmental Management System to maintain our 

ISO14001 accreditation across all our operations

 – Continue to review our operational activities to support a reduction of our carbon 

footprint intensity by a further 1%

 – Reduce the amount of single-use plastics used within our stores 

and increase the level of segregation and recycling for key 
packaging types

2

 – Further reduce our carbon footprint intensity by 2%

 – Increase the amount of unsold food donations by a further 50% (based on 2016 results)

 – Increase redistribution of unsold food by 10% (compared  

to 2017 result)

Property and 
Business 
Development  
Director

13

CLIMATE 
ACTION

People

We are committed  

to creating a great 

place to work

 – Drive activities to further improve employee engagement through flexible working 

 – Achieve third-party accreditation for Balanced You, our health and wellbeing programme

 – Successfully deliver our year one action plan to achieve National Equality Standard 

 – Continue to drive health and safety engagement to reduce reportable accidents per 

accreditation in 2019

hours worked in retail by 5%

 – Continue to drive health and safety engagement to reduce reportable accidents per 

hours worked in our supply chain by 10%

 – Further develop and deliver our online development tool across the business to enhance 

development opportunities for our people 

 – Complete the relaunch of our ‘culture and values’ programme 

 – Successfully deliver our 2-year action plan following our National 

Equality Standard Audit in 2017

 – Continue to drive health and safety engagement to reduce 

reportable incidents across our operations by 10%

Retail and 
People  
Director

10

REDUCED 
INEQUALITIES

3

3     Although we missed our stretching target, we were proud to see that we reduced the number of reported incidents across our supply chain again by over 5%.  
Health and Safety remains a priority across our supply chain, especially in light of the transformation work we are in the process of completing within the estate.

*  More information about our 2017 achievements is available overleaf.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

31

Strategic Report 
 
 
 
Percentage of 
women on the 
Board:

43%

Percentage of 
employees who  
are female:

71%

NON-FINANCIAL KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS CONTINUED

Carbon footprint
Our net carbon footprint for the 2017 financial  
year was 110,350 tonnes of carbon dioxide and 
equivalent gases (CO2e), with an intensity of  
115.61 tonnes of CO2e per £million turnover.  
This represents a 15.04 per cent improvement  
on our 2016 result.

Carbon Trust Standard
We measure our direct carbon footprint and in 2016 
we were again accredited to hold the Carbon Trust 
Standard in recognition of our work on carbon 
efficiencies. In addition, we disclose our GHG 
emissions through the Carbon Disclosure 
Project (CDP).

Global GHG emissions data
In line with Companies Act 2006 (Strategic Report 
and Directors Report) Regulations 2013, we are 
reporting on our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions  
as part of our annual strategic report. Our GHG 
reporting year is the same as our financial year  
from 1 January 2017 to 30 December 2017.

We have reported on all of the emission sources 
which we deem ourselves to be responsible for, as 
required under the Companies Act 2006 (Strategic 
Report and Directors Report) Regulations 2013. 
These sources fall within our operation’s control and 
financial boundaries. We do not have responsibility 
for any emission sources that are outside of our 
operational control.

The methodology used to calculate our emissions  
is based on the UK Government’s Environmental 
Reporting Guidance (2013) and emissions factors 
from UK Government’s GHG Conversion Factors  
for company reporting.

The 2017 emissions are verified by the Carbon  
Trust as part of the review of our carbon footprint.

Gender of workforce
We are proud of our reputation for bringing the 
best talent through the business regardless of 
gender and that 71 per cent of our total workforce 
is female, almost half of our management 
population is female and, of the seven Board 
posts, three are held by women.

Board

Senior Managers

Other managers

Female

Male

Total

3

58

276

4

78

281

7

136

557

All employees

15,408

6,326

21,734

Current reporting 
year 2017  

(tonnes of CO2e)

Comparison year  
2016  
(tonnes of CO2e)

Scope 1

Scope 1

Scope 2

Combustion of fuel & operations of facilities

Refrigerants

Electricity purchased for own use (including PV 

generated electricity)

GROSS emissions

Total Scope 1+2 CO2e emissions

NET emissions 

Net emissions excluding PV

NET intensity 

measure

Tonnes of CO2e per £million of turnover adjusted 

to account for use of renewable energy

32,460

7,222

70,966

110,648

110,350

115.61

33,010

6,041

82,153*

121,204

120,824

136.08

*  Emissions for 2016 have been adjusted as refrigerant emissions in 2016 were over reported.

32

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

 
RISK MANAGEMENT

The Board has ultimate  
responsibility for ensuring that  
risks are managed appropriately

Our risk management approach
We have well-established risk management 
processes embedded within the business, which 
enable us to identify, evaluate, record and monitor 
significant risks. Taking an appropriate level of risk is 
an inherent part of any business, but in doing so we 
assess the likelihood and impact of each risk arising.

The diagram below sets out our approach and shows 
the various information flows.

Business Assurance Function

Insured 
risks

Functional 
risks

Project 
risks

Key  
strategic  
risks

Other  
strategic  
risks

New & 
emerging  
risks

Risk Manager

Risk Committee/Operating Board

Main Board/Audit Committee

The responsibilities of key participants within the 
risk management process are summarised below:

Board of Directors/Audit Committee
 – Ultimate responsibility for ensuring risks are 

managed appropriately;

 – full annual review of the risk management process;
 – regular consideration of key strategic risks and 

new and emerging risks; and

 – robust annual assessment of principal risks as 

set out on the following page.

Risk Committee/Operating Board
 – Quarterly detailed discussion of significant risks;
 – understanding the business’ exposure to risk;
 – supporting the implementation of the 

Company’s risk management strategy; and
 – escalating significant matters to Main Board,  

via the Audit Committee.

Risk Manager
 – Maintaining the corporate risk register;
 – supporting the Risk Committee to operate 

effectively; and

 – ensuring adequate insurance is in place,  

as determined by the Main Board.

Business Assurance function
 – Providing independent internal audit coverage 

of the business, reporting findings to  
Audit Committee);

 – oversight of the risk process; and
 – support to the whistleblowing process, which 

allows staff to raise matters of concern.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

33

Strategic ReportRISK MANAGEMENT CONTINUED

Principal risks and uncertainties
These risks are those which the Directors consider  
to present the most significant threat to the business’ 
future development or performance. 

Additional risks have been disclosed this year 
compared with previous statements. This is in 
response to guidance from the Financial Reporting 
Council, along with a peer review of the disclosures 
of other companies operating in the retail environment, 
which has encouraged reporting of a broader range 
of risks to enhance stakeholder understanding. As  
a result, we have reported on five additional risks in 
the current disclosure. All risks reported in last year’s 
statement remain relevant.

Where appropriate, the impact of these risks 
occurring has been considered when developing  
the scenarios tested as part of the financial viability 
statement as set out opposite.

Additional risks and uncertainties, not presently 
known to management or deemed less material 
currently, may also have an adverse effect on the 
business. Further, the exposure to each risk will 
evolve as we take mitigating actions, or as new risks 
emerge. The risks set out below provide a snapshot 
of the position at the date of the annual report.

The risks are described along with the strategic 
pillars to which they are linked, and the movement 
in net risk level during the year. They are ranked 
based on their perceived impact and likelihood, 
taking into account the effectiveness of existing 
controls (i.e. the net risk faced by the business).

Our principal risks can be mapped to our strategy 
and categorised as follows:

Great tasting freshly 
prepared food

Best customer 
experience

Competitive  
supply chain

First class  
support teams

Loss of production

Product quality

Food scare

Market pressures

Product quality

Food scare

Business change

Cyber & data security

Consumer trends

Regulatory and compliance

Economic climate

Management of third party relationships

Ability to attract/retain/motivate people

Impact of Brexit

Key

Strategic risk

Operational risk

Compliance risk

34

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Viability statement
The Directors have assessed the Company’s 
prospects and viability taking into account its current 
position, plans and principal risks. The Company 
remains cash-generative and has no debt other than 
normal trading liabilities to creditors and the 
obligations arising under commercial leases and its 
defined benefit pension scheme. In assessing the 
Company’s prospects the Board has taken into 
account the following:
 – The Company’s strong financial position and 

cash-generative nature.

 – The continued growth of out-of-home eating  

and the alignment of the Company’s offer to this 
growing market.

 – The potential for further growth in existing 

markets and investment plans to support this.
 – The maintenance of a competitive, differentiated 

offer to customers.

 – Controls over and mitigations of the occurrence  

of principal risks and uncertainties.

In assessing the Company’s viability the Board  
has considered potential scenarios that have  
been envisaged to reflect the occurrence of the 
principal risks that the business faces. These include 
threats to its operations, such as a loss of production 
capacity, and the occurrence of risks affecting 
confidence in the Greggs brand.

In carrying out its assessment the Board has 
reviewed the three-year operational and financial 
plan to 2020. This is the period over which the Board 
reviews management’s business planning and 
therefore the Board believes that this is the most 
appropriate timeframe over which to make the 
viability assessment.

The principal risks to which the Company is exposed 
ultimately affect the ability of its shops to trade 
successfully, either through an interruption to supply 
or because of a loss of confidence in the Greggs 
brand. A significant loss of sales would be 
particularly damaging given the Company’s vertical 
integration in that the cost of the internal supply 
chain cannot be reduced quickly.

In order to stress-test the Company’s financial 
resilience three separate scenarios were created to 
simulate the impact arising from the occurrence of 
the following principal risks:
1.  A brand-damaging food scare resulting in a 

significant one-year sales reduction followed  
by gradual recovery of confidence. In making 
assumptions the Directors considered real 
examples of companies in the food sector that 
had experienced such issues.

2.  The impact of a ten per cent annual sales 

decline as a result of changing shopping habits 
or consumer trends.

3.  Temporary loss of production capacity for the 
Company’s iconic pastry savoury products  
and the consequences for liquidity as capacity 
is restored.

In each case the Directors reviewed the mitigating 
actions that would be necessary to protect the 
Company’s liquidity. These included:
 – Temporary suspension of dividend payments  
in order to preserve cash for operational use, 
including the restoration of customer 
confidence in the Greggs brand.

 – Restriction of capital investment to cover only 
essential maintenance of infrastructure, taking 
into account capital commitments to major 
investment programmes.

 – Addition of temporary financing facilities, 

taking into account the Company’s  
borrowing capacity.

 – Drawing on the Company’s insurance 

arrangements on the occurrence of an  
insured risk.

The scenarios tested represent more extreme 
circumstances than the Company has ever 
experienced. Based on the results of the analysis, 
the Directors have a reasonable expectation that 
the Company will be able to continue in operation 
and meet its liabilities as they fall due over the 
three-year period of their detailed assessment.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

35

Strategic ReportPRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

Description

Loss of  
production

Product quality  
and safety

Food scare

Market  
pressures

Business  
change

Cyber and  
data security

Consumer  
trends

Regulatory  
and compliance

Economic  
climate

Management  
of third party 
relationships

Ability to  
attract/retain/
motivate  
people

  No change

  No change

  No change

As we move towards more centralised production and national distribution, any interruption  
to production may have a significant impact on our customers.

Key mitigations

Change

Links to 

strategy

All of our supply sites have contingency plans in place. We simulate scenarios and test  

our recovery processes periodically. We have identified alternative supply sources for key 

ingredients and products. Our property insurers conduct annual site inspections, helping  

us to protect our facilities.

Due to our vertically-integrated structure, and the fact that we freshly prepare food every day in our 
retail premises, we may have a greater exposure to food safety risk than many of our competitors. 

Procedures are in place throughout our supply sites and shops to ensure that food safety is  

maintained. Compliance is monitored both internally and by regulatory bodies.

We may suffer a loss of trade due to customer confidence being impacted by an external food scare 
beyond our control.

Most of the products on sale in our shops are made by our staff in our bakeries. Routine checks  

are carried out to confirm the integrity of our products and ingredients.

Changing customer habits such as the increasing popularity of online shopping impact on our ability  
to attract footfall into our shops. 

We are progressively diversifying the market segments in which we trade, reducing the reliance  

on shoppers. This includes opening shops in travel and workplace locations as well as developing  

  No change

our food offer to match the needs of customers outside of general shopping hours.

We continue to implement our strategy of transformation into a food-on-the-go retailer, requiring 
restructuring, capital investment and new systems implementation. 

We phase our change activity to avoid affecting the Company as a whole wherever possible.  

Timelines and forecasts are clearly defined and agreed. Progress against these is reported on  

  No change

Expected timelines or savings may not be met, and there may be disruption to our customers.

a regular basis to our Operating Board.

As with all businesses, our data and systems are exposed to external threats such as hackers or viruses. 
These could lead to data breaches, or disruption to our operation.

We actively monitor our networks and systems, including conducting regular penetration testing.

Our approach to information security is closely monitored by the Board.

  No change

The new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides a rigorous control framework, with severe 
penalties for non-compliance.

We are working to ensure compliance with the GDPR requirements, including data mapping,  

policy development and staff training.

As customers become more concerned about nutrition, health and the provenance of food, our 
traditional products may be perceived as less attractive. The publication of the Government’s 25 year 
Environmental Strategy and growing concern over the environment may give rise to the introduction  
of additional levies and taxes.

Following the implementation of new Sentencing Council guidelines, large financial penalties could  
be imposed on the business for breaches of Food Safety or Health & Safety legislation. Due to the 
number of stores we operate, and the volume of customer transactions we handle on a daily basis,  
we may be exposed to isolated incidents which fall below our expected standards and may expose  
us to prosecution.

We continue to work on improving the nutrition of our traditional products, including a  

commitment to reduce sugar in line with the Government’s Childhood Obesity Strategy.  

Our “Balanced Choice” range provides healthier options and is growing well.

  No change

We are working hard to reduce our impact on the environment, including reviewing our packaging 

designs, introducing a reusable hot drinks cup and continuing to reduce our carbon intensity.

We have a system of controls and monitoring in place, and our teams are provided with extensive  

New

training on safe processes and procedures. Our audit processes confirm whether proper  

procedures are being followed.

Increased uncertainty about the economy and the outcome of Brexit impacts on consumer confidence. 
Wider economic uncertainty and job insecurity may cause consumers to be more cautious with their 
discretionary spending.

As a leading value brand, we take steps to control our costs whilst maintaining the quality of our 

New

customer offer. We closely monitor our competitiveness and are focused on remaining great  

value for money.

As our reliance on third parties for services, ingredients or business support increases, we become more 
exposed to their business interruption risks. This could impact on our ability to produce, distribute or sell 
our products.

Our own contingency arrangements consider the implications of key systems or ingredients being 

New

unavailable. All third parties are vetted prior to us engaging with them. Key supplier relationships  

are managed by our central procurement team.

Market forces and particularly the impact of Brexit may result in a shortage of available workforce. This 
may be compounded by the relative complexity of our shop operations compared with other retailers.

We offer attractive remuneration and benefit packages to reward our teams, along with training  

New

and development opportunities. We carry out an annual opinion survey to ensure high levels of 

employee engagement.

We are working to streamline our shop processes and simplify operations for our teams.

As part of our business change programme, we are investing in improved recruitment processes.

Impact  
of Brexit

In addition to the risks relating to the economy and resources highlighted above, there is uncertainty 
regarding the possibility of changes to trading arrangements, customs agreement, tariffs etc. This may 
give rise to increased costs.

Developments continue to be monitored, with regular review by our Operating Board.  

New

Contingency arrangements are being considered.

36

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Description

Loss of  

production

Product quality  

and safety

Food scare

Market  

pressures

Business  

change

Cyber and  

data security

Economic  

climate

Management  

of third party 

relationships

Ability to  

attract/retain/

motivate  

people

Impact  

of Brexit

As we move towards more centralised production and national distribution, any interruption  

to production may have a significant impact on our customers.

Key mitigations

All of our supply sites have contingency plans in place. We simulate scenarios and test  
our recovery processes periodically. We have identified alternative supply sources for key 
ingredients and products. Our property insurers conduct annual site inspections, helping  
us to protect our facilities.

Change

Links to 
strategy

  No change

Due to our vertically-integrated structure, and the fact that we freshly prepare food every day in our 

retail premises, we may have a greater exposure to food safety risk than many of our competitors. 

Procedures are in place throughout our supply sites and shops to ensure that food safety is  
maintained. Compliance is monitored both internally and by regulatory bodies.

  No change

We may suffer a loss of trade due to customer confidence being impacted by an external food scare 

beyond our control.

Most of the products on sale in our shops are made by our staff in our bakeries. Routine checks  
are carried out to confirm the integrity of our products and ingredients.

  No change

Changing customer habits such as the increasing popularity of online shopping impact on our ability  

to attract footfall into our shops. 

We continue to implement our strategy of transformation into a food-on-the-go retailer, requiring 

restructuring, capital investment and new systems implementation. 

Expected timelines or savings may not be met, and there may be disruption to our customers.

We are progressively diversifying the market segments in which we trade, reducing the reliance  
on shoppers. This includes opening shops in travel and workplace locations as well as developing  
our food offer to match the needs of customers outside of general shopping hours.

  No change

We phase our change activity to avoid affecting the Company as a whole wherever possible.  
Timelines and forecasts are clearly defined and agreed. Progress against these is reported on  
a regular basis to our Operating Board.

  No change

As with all businesses, our data and systems are exposed to external threats such as hackers or viruses. 

These could lead to data breaches, or disruption to our operation.

We actively monitor our networks and systems, including conducting regular penetration testing.
Our approach to information security is closely monitored by the Board.

  No change

The new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides a rigorous control framework, with severe 

penalties for non-compliance.

We are working to ensure compliance with the GDPR requirements, including data mapping,  
policy development and staff training.

Consumer  

trends

As customers become more concerned about nutrition, health and the provenance of food, our 

traditional products may be perceived as less attractive. The publication of the Government’s 25 year 

Environmental Strategy and growing concern over the environment may give rise to the introduction  

We continue to work on improving the nutrition of our traditional products, including a  
commitment to reduce sugar in line with the Government’s Childhood Obesity Strategy.  
Our “Balanced Choice” range provides healthier options and is growing well.

  No change

of additional levies and taxes.

Regulatory  

and compliance

Following the implementation of new Sentencing Council guidelines, large financial penalties could  

be imposed on the business for breaches of Food Safety or Health & Safety legislation. Due to the 

number of stores we operate, and the volume of customer transactions we handle on a daily basis,  

we may be exposed to isolated incidents which fall below our expected standards and may expose  

us to prosecution.

We are working hard to reduce our impact on the environment, including reviewing our packaging 
designs, introducing a reusable hot drinks cup and continuing to reduce our carbon intensity.

We have a system of controls and monitoring in place, and our teams are provided with extensive  
training on safe processes and procedures. Our audit processes confirm whether proper  
procedures are being followed.

New

Increased uncertainty about the economy and the outcome of Brexit impacts on consumer confidence. 

Wider economic uncertainty and job insecurity may cause consumers to be more cautious with their 

discretionary spending.

As a leading value brand, we take steps to control our costs whilst maintaining the quality of our 
customer offer. We closely monitor our competitiveness and are focused on remaining great  
value for money.

As our reliance on third parties for services, ingredients or business support increases, we become more 

exposed to their business interruption risks. This could impact on our ability to produce, distribute or sell 

our products.

Our own contingency arrangements consider the implications of key systems or ingredients being 
unavailable. All third parties are vetted prior to us engaging with them. Key supplier relationships  
are managed by our central procurement team.

Market forces and particularly the impact of Brexit may result in a shortage of available workforce. This 

may be compounded by the relative complexity of our shop operations compared with other retailers.

We offer attractive remuneration and benefit packages to reward our teams, along with training  
and development opportunities. We carry out an annual opinion survey to ensure high levels of 
employee engagement.

We are working to streamline our shop processes and simplify operations for our teams.

As part of our business change programme, we are investing in improved recruitment processes.

New

New

New

In addition to the risks relating to the economy and resources highlighted above, there is uncertainty 

regarding the possibility of changes to trading arrangements, customs agreement, tariffs etc. This may 

Developments continue to be monitored, with regular review by our Operating Board.  
Contingency arrangements are being considered.

New

give rise to increased costs.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

37

Strategic ReportBOARD OF DIRECTORS AND SECRETARY

Ian Durant 
Chairman

Biography

Ian has a background in international 
finance and commercial management, 
with experience in the retail, 
property, hotels and transport 
sectors. His career includes 
leadership roles with the retail 
division of Hanson and Jardine 
Matheson, HongKong Land, Dairy 
Farm International, Thistle Hotels 
and SeaContainers and as Finance 
Director of Liberty International. 

Appointed since

5 October 2011

Independent

Yes

External appointments

Roger Whiteside 
Chief Executive

Richard Hutton FCA 
Finance Director

Allison Kirkby 
Non-Executive Director

Roger began his career at Marks  
and Spencer where he spent 20 years, 
ultimately becoming head of its food 
business. He was then one of the 
founding team of Ocado, serving as 
Joint MD from 2000 to 2004. From 
2004 to 2007 Roger led a successful 
turnaround as Chief Executive of the 
Thresher Group off-licence chain 
before joining Punch Taverns, 
ultimately becoming Chief Executive. 
Roger was appointed as Chief 
Executive of Greggs on 4  
February 2013.

Richard qualified as a Chartered 
Accountant with KPMG and gained 
career experience with Procter and 
Gamble before joining Greggs in 
1998. He held a number of roles 
within the Company’s finance 
function before joining the Board  
as Finance Director in 2006.

Allison is currently President and 
CEO of Tele 2, a major European 
telecoms company. Prior to Tele 2, 
where she joined as CFO, Allison 
spent two decades in the FMCG 
sector at Procter and Gamble in  
a variety of senior financial and 
operational roles before moving  
to the TMT sector first at Virgin 
Media and then as Group CFO at 
Shine, a division of 21st Century Fox. 
Allison is a Fellow of the Chartered 
Institute of Management Accountants.

17 March 2008 (Non-Executive 
Director until 3 February 2013)

13 March 2006

30 January 2013

Not applicable

Not applicable

Yes

Chairman of Capital and Counties 
PLC. Chairman of DFS Furniture plc.

Member of the Women’s  
Business Council.

Non-Executive Director  
of Card Factory plc.

Trustee of Greggs Foundation. 
Trustee Director of Business in the 
Community. Trustee of The Alnwick 
Garden Trust.

Director of Secure Value Consulting 
Limited. Board member of Reach  
for Change.

Committee membership

Chair of Nominations Committee

Not applicable

Not applicable

Chair of Audit Committee; 
Remuneration and Nominations 
Committee member

Board diversity
Our Board brings a balance of relevant backgrounds 
and gender to their discussions.

38

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Helena Ganczakowski 
Non-Executive Director

Peter McPhillips 
Non-Executive Director

Sandra Turner 
Non-Executive and Senior 
Independent Director

Jonathan Jowett 
Company Secretary and 
General Counsel

Biography

Helena worked for Unilever for 23 
years and held senior positions in 
brand management and marketing 
including UK Marketing Director and 
ultimately Head of Global Agencies. 
Helena has a PhD in Engineering 
from the University of Cambridge.

Peter spent most of his executive 
career in food manufacturing having 
held a number of executive positions 
including Divisional Managing 
Director of Hillsdown Holdings, 
Director of Terranova (the chilled 
foods business demerged from 
Hillsdown Holdings) and ultimately 
as UK Managing Director of Uniq plc. 
More recently, Peter was European 
Chairman of Hain Celestial Group. 

Sandra has been involved in the 
retail sector throughout her career 
and was employed by Tesco PLC, 
latterly as Commercial Director for 
Tesco Ireland, from 1987 to 2009. 
Prior to this she worked in sales and 
marketing roles for Unilever and 
Wilkinson Sword. 

Jonathan is a lawyer by profession 
and has held the position of 
Company Secretary for a number  
of FTSE 250 and FTSE SmallCap 
companies. His previous employers 
include Avon Cosmetics Limited, SSL 
International plc, Wagon plc and 
Bakkavor Group.

Appointed since

2 January 2014

Independent

Yes

External appointments

Non-Executive Director of Croda 
International Plc and also owner, 
manager of consulting business 
working with companies ranging 
from start-up businesses to FTSE 
100 constituents, helping them to 
develop and implement strategies.

Committee membership

10 March 2014

1 May 2014

12 May 2010

Yes

Yes

Not applicable

Non-Executive Director of Browns 
Food Group. Non-Executive Director 
of Jackson’s Bakery Limited.

Non-Executive Director of 
Carpetright plc, McBride plc  
and Huhtämaki OYJ. 

Member of the British Retail 
Consortium Policy Board; Chair  
of the Trustees of the Percy  
Hedley Foundation.

Non-Executive Director of Newcastle 
Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Audit, Remuneration  
and Nominations  
Committee member

Audit, Remuneration  
and Nominations  
Committee member

Chair of Remuneration Committee; 
Audit and Nominations  
Committee member

Secretary to the Board and  
all its Committees

4:3

Board diversity,  
by gender 

M

F

6.3

Board diversity,  
by tenure (years)
Average

3-6 years 

>7 years 

4.5

10.8

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

39

Directors’ Report 
 
GOVERNANCE REPORT – CHAIRMAN’S INTRODUCTION

We have enjoyed  
a period of stability  
on the Board

Dear Shareholder,
I am pleased to introduce our governance report, 
which follows on pages 41 to 47.

In 2017, the executive team undertook an extensive 
consultation exercise to explain to our people in more 
detail what impact our £100 million investment in our 
supply chain could have on their working lives. This 
included shift changes, new contractual terms in some 
instances, different and reduced product ranges as we 
move to create centres of excellence and, regrettably, 
some job losses by reason of redundancy, as we come 
to the end of our programme in 2019.

40

Following our Board evaluation at the beginning of the 
year, and in anticipation of the planned consultation, 
we decided that we would take the opportunity to find 
new ways of engaging with our people and listening to 
their views during a time of significant change.

As a first step, in the Autumn Peter McPhillips and I 
attended a meeting with the Greggs Negotiating 
Committee, which is made up of elected union officials 
from supply chain and retail. Having explained our role 
as Non-Executive Directors, we were asked questions 
about Board decision-making and the application of 
Greggs’ values, the independence of Non-Executive 
Directors and potential conflicts of interest, and the 
importance of ensuring that the impact of decisions  
on people’s lives is always given proper consideration.

As part of our Board deliberations, we always apply 
the Company’s values in making strategic decisions 
whilst recognising the necessity for judgement calls  
to protect our competitiveness and future growth.  
At a time when the Government is consulting on 
changes to the Corporate Governance Code, our 
experience is that there is great value to be had from 
ensuring that people most affected by Board decisions 
have the opportunity to make their views known 
directly to Non-Executive Directors.

The corporate governance statement, together  
with the reports of the Audit and Remuneration 
Committees on pages 48 to 69, explain how our 
governance framework operates and how we oversee 
both the performance of the Company and also the 
general understanding and application of the values 
for which Greggs is known. Leadership and culture are 
central to this, supported by the programme to 
improve systems and processes, together with regular 
discussion regarding risks and risk management. The 
Board is accountable to shareholders for governance 
and I have continued to meet with some of our largest 
shareholders. In 2017, I was accompanied by Helena 
Ganczakowski at those sessions, ensuring that our 
shareholders have access to a broader range of our 
Non-Executive Directors.

All of our Directors will be seeking re-election at  
our AGM to be held on 9 May 2018. We have enjoyed 
a period of stability on the Board and this reflects the 
continued enthusiasm of a high-performing 
management team working well with Non-Executive 
Directors who bring a balance of relevant backgrounds 
and gender to Board discussions. We were delighted 
to have been recognised in the Hampton-Alexander 
Review, published in November 2017, as a top ten  
FTSE 250 Company for Women on Boards and  
in Leadership.

I look forward to welcoming as many shareholders  
as possible to our AGM.

Ian Durant 
Chairman
27 February 2018

Greggs plc Annual Report and Accounts 2017 
GOVERNANCE REPORT

The Company is subject to the UK Corporate Governance Code issued by the Financial Reporting Council. 
The edition of the Code issued in April 2016 applied throughout the 2017 financial year. This governance 
report, together with information contained elsewhere within the Directors’ report, describes how the 
relevant principles and provisions of the Governance Code were applied in 2017 and will be relevant to  
the Company for the 2018 financial year.

The Company has been a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index throughout 2017, and maintains a Premium 
listing on the London Stock Exchange.

The Board confirms that it was compliant with the Governance Code throughout the year, and all of  
the policies and terms of reference referred to in this report are available on the corporate website  
at http://corporate.greggs.co.uk.

Did you  
know…
We were  
recognised in the 
Hampton-Alexander 
Review, published  
in November 2017,  
as a top ten FTSE 
250 company for 
women on Boards 
and in Leadership.

The Board
Effectiveness
The Chairman chairs the Nominations Committee whose primary function is to consider the blend of skills and 
experience that the Directors bring to the Board. This includes independent and objective experience of food 
retailing and manufacturing, finance, marketing, property and corporate finance to complement the existing 
skills and experience of the Executive Directors.

The Board meets regularly to discharge its duties. At these meetings it reviews strategy, financial performance 
against key indicators, resources, risk management and other matters reserved for the Board. Whilst executive 
responsibility for running the Company’s business rests ultimately with the Chief Executive, the Non-Executive 
Directors ensure that the strategies proposed by the Chief Executive are fully discussed and critically 
examined prior to adoption.

During the year, the Chairman and the Non-Executive Directors individually undertook a number of visits  
and meetings as part of the day-to-day running of the business, in order to ensure that they were sufficiently 
well-versed in operations to facilitate strong support and challenge. Such visits included meetings with key 
suppliers, production centre visits and getting out into our own shops and those of our competitors, 
accompanied by members of the Operating Board and senior management.

Additionally, the Board met in Northern Ireland during the year and was able to experience first hand the 
directly-run and franchised shops that have been operating since we first entered the province in 2016.

The Board schedules six meetings per year and meets on an ad hoc basis as required.

Attendance at scheduled meetings held during the year is recorded in the table below, where the number of 
meetings actually attended are shown with the number of meetings that the individual could have attended.

Audit 
Committee

Remuneration 
Committee

Nominations 
Committee

4

–

–

–

2

–

–

–

1

–

–

Meeting attendance

Number of meetings held

Main Board

6

Ian Durant

Roger Whiteside

Richard Hutton

Helena Ganczakowski

Allison Kirkby

Peter McPhillips

Sandra Turner

Raymond Reynolds*

–

–

–

* Raymond Reynolds stepped down from the Board following the AGM in May 2017.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

41

Directors’ ReportGOVERNANCE REPORT CONTINUED

All Directors are invited to attend the Audit Committee and the Chief Executive attends the Remuneration and Nomination 
Committees. The business conducted at Committee meetings is reported by the respective Chair at subsequent Board meetings.

In addition, the Non-Executive Directors meet formally twice each year and from time to time, as required.

Board modus operandi
The Board has a policy on the separation of the roles of the Chairman and the Chief Executive. The Chairman sets the agenda for Board 
meetings in accordance with a specific Schedule of Matters Reserved policy (which is reviewed and approved annually), and ensures 
that the Board is supplied, in a timely manner, with information in a form and of a quality appropriate to enable it to discharge its duties.

The Board considers that it effectively leads and controls the Company. All Directors take decisions objectively and in the interests of 
the Company. The Non-Executive Directors scrutinise the performance of management in meeting agreed goals and objectives and 
monitor the reporting of performance. All Directors receive induction training on joining the Board and regularly update and refresh 
their knowledge through reading, attendance on relevant courses and/or activities outside the Company. 

In a change from previous practice, and following Raymond Reynolds’ stepping down from the Board, it was agreed that additional 
operating information would be made available to Non-Executive Directors in the expectation that this would add further colour to the 
debate and discussion at Board meetings. Consequently, Board papers now include a summary of activity by each Operating Board 
director, together with a fuller and more detailed report attached should Non-Executive Directors wish to explore further any matter 
being reported. Members of the Operating Board are invited to attend Board meetings on a rolling rota in order to participate in the 
Board’s discussion on business performance and key issues. This process also affords senior managers the opportunity to bring matters 
to the attention of the Board. During the year, the Board received regular updates including:
 – Developments on the two main strategic projects, being the implementation of SAP, and the £100 million investment in our  

supply chain.

 – Business performance in Northern Ireland.
 – The implications of “Brexit”.
 – The Gender Pay Gap report.
 – Sentencing Council guidelines in relation to regulatory convictions.
 – Customer insight, competitor activity, marketing and category plans.
 – Wage negotiations and people issues.
 – Food safety and health and safety.

The Board sets itself a Rolling Agenda, which facilitates agenda planning for scheduled meetings across the year. In this way the Board 
monitors its activities and ensures that it is operating effectively. 

Diversity
The Board believes it is in the best interests of the Company to bring more women through to the top levels of the organisation and,  
as a result of this belief, a programme launched in 2012 to encourage women to strive for the most senior positions in the business. Our 
gender reporting is now contained on page 32 of the strategic report. The progress that the Board has made in its diversity policy was 
recognised by the Hampton-Alexander Review published in November 2017, when we were recognised as a top ten FTSE 250 Company 
for Women on Boards and in Leadership.

Succession, and development
The Board is satisfied that a process is in place for orderly succession to the Board and to positions of senior management, so as to 
maintain an appropriate balance of skills and experience within the Company and on the Board. The Chief Executive meets with the 
Chairman and the Non-Executive Directors on a regular basis in order that succession and development plans can be drawn up for 
Executive Directors and members of the Operating Board.

All Directors are able to receive training and to take independent professional advice at the expense of the Company. They also have 
direct access to the Company Secretary, who is responsible for advising the Board on all governance matters.

Evaluation
The performance of the Board, its Committees and of all Directors is evaluated annually by a formal and rigorous process. 

Later in 2018, the Board will be conducting its second externally-facilitated evaluation. In anticipation of this more detailed review, for 
2017 the Board conducted its own evaluation which consisted of a question-based review which resulted in a series of themes that were 
debated at a Board meeting. The emerging themes included a review of our risk disclosures, looking forward on Board Succession 
planning, harvesting best practice from Non-Executive Director experience on other boards, and considering how to engage better  
with stakeholders in meeting Companies Act (S172) obligations. Consequently, it was agreed that specific actions should include a 
Non-Executive Director attending a Risk Committee meeting and the creation of a stakeholder engagement data map for subsequent 
review by the Board.

As a key part of the ongoing evaluation process, the Chairman also meets with the Non-Executive Directors at least annually without the 
Executive Directors present, and also has one-to-one sessions with every member of the Board. The Senior Independent Director meets 
the Non-Executive Directors annually without the Chairman present to appraise the Chairman’s performance.

42

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

 
Election and re-election of Directors
The Board has resolved that, in line with Governance Code provision B.7.1, all Directors will be subject to annual re-election by 
shareholders. Following recommendation by the Nominations Committee, all of the Non-Executive Directors who will offer themselves 
for re-election at the Annual General Meeting are considered by the Board to be independent in character and judgement and to  
be free from any business or other relationship or circumstance which is likely to affect or to interfere with the exercise of their 
independent judgement.

The Non-Executive Directors, chaired by the Senior Independent Director, have also specifically considered the Chairman’s 
commitment to the Company in light of his Chairmanships of two other FTSE 250 Companies. The Non-Executive Directors had noted 
that the Chairman had stepped down from the Boards of two other FTSE 250 companies in September 2016. The review included an 
assessment of his ongoing engagement with the business, evidenced by his numerous shop, manufacturing and distribution centre  
visits and meeting with the Greggs Negotiating Committee (see page 40), his one off meetings with members of the Operating Board 
and his ongoing dialogue with ex-employees, key stakeholders, industry experts and face-to-face meetings with shareholders.  
The Non-Executive Directors also considered the potential risk and mitigants of the Chairman not being available to the Greggs  
Board in a situation which might demand more of his time and attention.

The conclusion drawn was that the Chairman evidences a very high level of commitment to Greggs plc which is not affected by  
his roles with other companies, and the Non-Executive Directors would encourage all shareholders to support his re-appointment  
as Chairman.

Board Committees 
The Board delegates some of its activities to the following committees, each of which has written terms of reference, which are available 
on the Company’s website. The Company Secretary acts as secretary to and is generally in attendance at each of these committees, 
and each of the committees is provided with sufficient resources to undertake its duties.

The Audit Committee currently consists of four independent Non-Executive Directors: Allison Kirkby (Chair), Helena Ganczakowski, 
Peter McPhillips and Sandra Turner. The Committee met four times in the year, and a fuller report on its activities is set out on pages  
48 to 53.

The Remuneration Committee currently consists of four independent Non-Executive Directors: Sandra Turner (Chair), Helena 
Ganczakowski, Allison Kirkby and Peter McPhillips. The Committee’s main duties (which it discharged during the year) are detailed 
within the Directors’ remuneration report which is set out on pages 54 to 69 of this annual report. Shareholders approved the  
current Remuneration Policy at the AGM held on 19 May 2017, and this is included on pages 56 and 57 for the sake of expediency.  
The Chairman’s fees are reviewed annually and set by the Executive Directors, following the general policy of everyone in the  
Company receiving the same basic level of pay award. 

The Nominations Committee currently comprises Ian Durant (Chairman) and all of the Non-Executive Directors. The Committee’s 
main functions (which it discharged during the year) are to review the balance and constitution of the Board; to advise the Board as  
to whether Directors should be nominated for re-election by the members; and to approve and manage the process for setting the 
specification for all Board appointments, identifying candidates who meet that specification and making recommendations to the Board 
on the basis of merit and compliance with objective criteria in respect of all new Board appointments.

In recruiting additional Directors the Nominations Committee defines the role and uses external consultants to assist in identifying 
suitable candidates from which the Committee selects a short list and conducts interviews. The final candidate is then subject to formal 
recommendation by the Committee and approval by the Board.

The Nominations Committee did not seek external consultancy support during 2017.

Following appointment, new Directors are subject to an in-depth tailored induction process. In the case of Non-Executive Directors, 
this includes meeting with members of the Operating Board, visiting bakeries, shops and offices, and being provided with an extensive 
Board Handbook which contains key information and policies that are relevant to the position. For new Executive Directors, and 
Non-Executive Directors for whom the appointment is their first to a UK-listed company, the induction includes details of the legal 
duties and obligations of being a Director of the Company.

New Non-Executive Directors are also encouraged to provide formal feedback of their first months on the Greggs Board during  
a Board meeting.

Risk management
Details of the Company’s principal risks and the management of them are set out within the Strategic Report, and given on pages 33 to 37.

The Board confirms that it has reviewed the effectiveness of the system of internal control (covering all material controls, including 
financial, operational, compliance and risk management systems) during the year under review and up to the date of approval of the 
annual report and accounts.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

43

Directors’ Report 
GOVERNANCE REPORT CONTINUED

Relations with shareholders
The Board ensures that there is effective communication with individual and institutional shareholders through the announcement  
of regular trading updates, as well as general presentations after announcement of the interim and preliminary results and the posting 
of results on the Company’s website. The Board receives reports on any comments received from shareholders and market analysts 
following these presentations.

The Chief Executive and the Finance Director carry out extensive engagement with institutional shareholders and market analysts, 
either meeting them as part of Company presentations and briefings, individual meetings, or on telephone calls. 

During the year the Chairman met with two institutional shareholders with significant shareholdings, Standard Life Aberdeen plc,  
and MFS Investment Management, currently the largest shareholder. On both occasions the Chairman was accompanied by Helena 
Ganczakowski. The Chairman adopts an ongoing policy of arranging to meet with major shareholders, and the Non-Executive Directors 
are encouraged to attend meetings and events which provide them with the opportunity to engage generally with the investment 
community. 

During the last quarter of 2016, the Remuneration Committee chair had engaged with institutional shareholders representing over 50 
per cent of the issued share capital, as part of the consultation on the proposed Remuneration Policy which was put to shareholders at 
the AGM in May 2017. Following that engagement, the Board was pleased to receive the support of 94% of voting shareholders for the 
revised Remuneration Policy.

The Company Secretary and the Company’s Brokers draw the attention of the Board to all relevant shareholder communications. The 
Board also reviews briefings and comments by analysts and shareholders in order to maintain an understanding of market perceptions 
of the Company. The Board reviews at each meeting an analysis of the share register, noting all significant changes.

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) is well attended, and a short presentation of business performance is given to attendees by the 
Chief Executive (although no non-public sensitive information is shared). The Chairman and the Chairs of the Board Committees are 
available to answer any issues raised and any newly-appointed Directors being available to meet shareholders. During informal sessions 
both before and after the meeting, the Chairman, and all Directors are available to meet with any of the 60 or so individual private 
shareholders who are in attendance. This is in addition to the opportunity given to shareholders to ask questions of the Board during 
the formal meeting, which session is always welcomed by those in attendance. In 2017, information stalls were set up at the entrance  
to the meeting informing shareholders of the Company’s progress on key social responsibility topics.

At each AGM, the balance of proxy votes cast for and against each resolution and the number of abstentions is displayed. All substantial 
issues, including the receipt of the annual report and accounts, are proposed at the AGM as separate resolutions. All resolutions were 
strongly supported by shareholders, and were determined by poll, in accordance with best practice.

The Senior Independent Director is available to shareholders if they have concerns which they have not been able to resolve  
through the normal channels of the Chairman, Chief Executive or Finance Director, or for circumstances where such contact would  
not be appropriate.

The Company provides on its website www.greggs.co.uk a significant amount of information both about its customer offerings in the 
bakery food-on-the-go market, as well as detailed information on the governance arrangements.

Substantial shareholdings
At 27 February 2018 the only notified holdings of substantial voting rights in respect of the issued share capital of the Company (which 
may have altered since the date of such notification, without any requirement for the Company to have been informed) were:

MFS Investment Management
Standard Life Aberdeen plc
BlackRock Inc.

Number of  
shares held

5,314,697
5,036,488
not notified

Percentage  
of issued  

share capital

5.25%
4.98%
<5%

Accountability, audit and going concern
The Board acknowledges its responsibility to present a fair, balanced and understandable assessment of the Company’s position  
and prospects. In order to assist the Board to comply with the requirements within the Governance Code, the Audit Committee was 
requested to undertake an assessment of the annual report and to make a recommendation to the Board. This request has been 
enshrined within the Audit Committee’s terms of reference, which are available at corporate.greggs.co.uk.

The actions undertaken by the Audit Committee in confirming its advice to the Board included the consideration of a detailed review 
that has been undertaken by the Head of Business Assurance and reviewing the annual report as a whole to confirm that it presents  
a fair, balanced and understandable assessment. In considering the advice of the Audit Committee, and having reviewed the annual 
report including the contents of the strategic report on pages 03 to 37, together with the statutory accounts themselves, the Board duly 
considers the annual report and accounts, taken as a whole, is fair, balanced and understandable, and provides the necessary 
information for shareholders to assess the Company’s performance, business model, and strategy.

44

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

A statement of Directors’ responsibilities in respect of the preparation of accounts is given on page 70. A statement of auditor’s 
responsibilities is given in the report of the auditor on page 75.

After making enquiries, the Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Group has adequate resources to continue in operational 
existence for the foreseeable future. For this reason, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the accounts  
(see basis of preparation on page 81). The Board’s “viability statement” made in accordance with Code provision C.2.2; can be found  
on page 35. 

Policies
Freedom of association
At Greggs, we recognise the right of all employees to freedom of association and collective bargaining. Whilst we do not have a formal 
‘Freedom of Association’ policy, the Company encourages all its employees in bakeries, shops and offices to become, and remain, 
members of a union.

Bribery and corruption
Greggs has an ‘Anti-Bribery and Corruption’ policy which applies to all employees and prohibits the offering, giving, seeking or 
acceptance of any bribe in any form to any person or company by acting on its behalf, in order to gain an advantage in an unethical way.

Business conduct
We have a specific policy that sets out the standards of ethical behaviour that are expected of all employees. All graded managers,  
and members of the procurement department, are required to make an annual confirmation of their compliance with the policy.

Whistle-blowing
Our ‘whistle-blowing’ policy creates an environment where employees are able to raise concerns without fears of disciplinary action 
being taken against them as a result of any disclosure. Any matters raised are treated in confidence and an independent review will be 
undertaken where it is appropriate. The Chair of the Audit Committee is the designated first point of contact for any concerns which 
cannot be addressed through normal management processes.

Political donations
Greggs has a clear policy forbidding political donations or contributions. This includes financial and in-kind contributions made by  
the Company.

Disclosure of information to the auditor
Each of the Directors who held office at the date of approval of this Directors’ report confirms that, so far as they are individually aware, 
there is no relevant audit information of which the Company’s auditor is unaware; and that they have taken all the steps that they ought 
to have taken as a Director to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the Company’s auditor is 
aware of that information.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

45

Directors’ ReportDIRECTORS’ REPORT

Directors and their interests
The names of the Directors in office during the year, together with their relevant interests in the share capital of the Company at 
1 January 2017 and 30 December 2017 are set out in the Directors' remuneration report on page 68. Details of the Directors’ share 
options are also set out in the Directors’ remuneration report on pages 66 and 67.

In accordance with provision B.7.1 of the Governance Code, all Directors will retire from the Board at the AGM. Mr. Raymond 
Reynolds stepped down from the Board following the AGM held on 19 May 2017, although he remains a member of the  
Operating Board.

The Nominations Committee has considered the appropriateness and suitability of each Director standing for election and has 
recommended to the Board that each individual should be put forward for re-election.

Directors’ indemnities and conflicts
As at the date of this report, indemnities are in force under which the Company has agreed to indemnify the Directors, to the 
extent permitted by law, in respect of losses arising out of or in connection with the execution of their duties, powers or 
responsibilities as Directors of the Company. The indemnities do not apply in situations where the relevant Director has been  
guilty of fraud or wilful misconduct.

Under the authority granted to it in the Company’s articles of association, the Board has considered carefully any situation declared 
by any Director pursuant to which they have or might have a conflict of interest and, where it considers it appropriate to do so, has 
authorised the continuation of that situation. In exercising its authority, the Directors have had regard to their statutory and other 
duties to the Company.

Additional information
–  The information set out within the governance report on pages 41 to 45 forms part of the Directors’ report.
–  Greenhouse Gas emissions: All disclosures concerning the Group’s greenhouse gas emissions (as required to be disclosed  

under the Companies Act 2006 (Strategic Report and Directors’ Report) Regulations 2013 are contained in the non-financial  
KPIs on page 32.

Authority to purchase shares
At the AGM on 19 May 2017, the shareholders passed a resolution authorising the purchase by the Company of its own shares to  
a maximum of 10,350,000 ordinary shares of 2 pence each.

That authority had not been used as at 30 December 2017.

The authority remains in force until the conclusion of the AGM in 2018 or 8 August 2018, whichever is the earlier. It is the Board’s 
intention to seek approval at the 2018 AGM for the renewal of this authority.

Takeover directive information
Following the implementation of the European Directive on Takeover Bids by certain provisions of the Companies Act 2006,  
the Company is required to disclose certain additional information in the Directors’ report. This information is set out below:
–  The Company has one class of share in issue being ordinary shares of 2 pence each. As at 27 February 2018, there were 

101,155,901 such ordinary shares in issue. There are no shares in the Company that grant the holder special rights with regard  
to the control of the Company;

–  At general meetings of the Company, on a show of hands every shareholder present in person or by proxy has one vote only 
and, in the case of a poll, every shareholder present in person or by proxy has one vote for every share in the capital of the 
Company held by him or her;

–  The Company’s articles of association set out the circumstances in which shares may become disenfranchised. No shareholder  

is entitled, unless the Directors otherwise determine, in respect of any share held by him or her to be present or vote at a 
general meeting either personally or by proxy (or to exercise any other right in relation to meetings of the Company) in respect 
of that share in certain circumstances if any call or other sum is payable and remains unpaid, if the shareholder is in default in 
complying with a duly served notice under section 793(1) of the CA 2006 or if any shareholder has failed to reply to a duly served 
notice requiring him or her to provide a written statement stating he or she is the beneficial owner of the shares;

–  A notice convening a general meeting can contain a statement that a shareholder is not entitled to attend and vote at a general 
meeting unless his or her name is entered on the register of members of the Company at a specific time (not more than 48 hours 
before the meeting) and if a shareholder’s name is not so entered he or she is not entitled to attend and vote;

46

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

–  Under the Company’s articles of association the Directors may, in their absolute discretion, refuse to register the transfer of  

a share in certified form in certain circumstances where the Company has a lien on the share (provided that the Directors do not 
exercise their discretion so as to prevent dealings in partly paid shares from taking place on an open and proper basis), where  
a shareholder has failed to reply to a duly served notice under section 793(1) CA 2006 or if a transfer of a share is in favour of  
more than four persons jointly. In addition, the Directors may decline to recognise any instrument of transfer unless it is in 
respect of only one class of share and is deposited at the address at which the register of members of the Company is held  
(or at such other place as the Directors may determine) accompanied by the relevant share certificate(s) and such other evidence  
as the Directors may reasonable require to show the right of the transferor to make the transfer. In respect of shares held in 
uncertificated form the Directors may only refuse to register transfers in accordance with the Uncertificated Securities 
Regulations 2001 (as amended from time to time);

–  Under the Company’s code on dealings in securities in the Company, persons discharging managerial responsibilities and some 

other senior executives may in certain circumstances be restricted as to when they can transfer shares in the Company;

–  There are no agreements between shareholders known to the Company which may result in restrictions on the transfer of shares 

or on voting rights;

–  Details of significant holders of the Company shares are set out on page 44;
–  Where, under an employee share plan operated by the Company, participants are the beneficial owners of shares but not the 

registered owner, the voting rights are normally exercised by the registered owner at the direction of the participant;

–  The Company’s articles of association may only be amended by special resolution at a general meeting of the shareholders;
–  The Company’s articles of association set out how Directors are appointed and replaced. Directors can be appointed by the 

Board or by the shareholders in a general meeting. At each Annual General Meeting, any Director appointed by the Board since 
the last Annual General Meeting must retire from office but is eligible for election by the shareholders. Furthermore, the Board 
has resolved that, in line with Governance Code provision B.7.1, all the Directors will be subject to annual re-election by 
shareholders. Under the CA 2006 and the Company’s articles of association, a Director can be removed from office by the 
shareholders in a general meeting;

–  The Company’s articles of association set out the powers of the Directors. The business of the Company is to be managed  
by the Directors who may exercise all the powers of the Company and do on behalf of the Company all such acts as may be 
exercised and done by the Company and are not by any relevant statutes or the Company’s articles of association required to  
be exercised or done by the Company in general meeting, subject to the provisions of any relevant statutes and the Company’s 
articles of association and to such regulations as may be prescribed by the Company by special resolution;

–  Under the CA 2006 and the Company’s articles of association, the Directors’ powers include the power to allot and buyback 

shares in the Company. At each Annual General Meeting, resolutions are proposed granting and setting limits on these powers;

–  The Company is not party to any significant agreements which take effect, alter or terminate upon a change in control of the 

Company, following a takeover bid; and

–  There are no agreements between the Company and its Directors or employees providing for compensation for loss of office  

or employment (whether through resignation, purported redundancy or otherwise) that occurs because of a takeover bid. Details 
of the Directors’ service agreements and terms of appointment are set out in the Directors’ remuneration report on pages 54 to 69. 
However, provisions in the employee share plans operated by the Company may allow options to be exercised on a takeover.

Employees
Applications for employment of disabled persons are always fully considered, bearing in mind the aptitudes of the applicant 
concerned. In the event of members of staff being disabled every effort is made to ensure that their employment within the 
Company continues and that appropriate training is arranged. It is the policy of the Company that the training, career development 
and promotion of disabled people should, as far as possible, be identical to that of other employees.

The Directors recognise the importance of good communications and good relations with employees. A weekly bulletin is sent  
to all shop staff and quarterly bulletin to all bakery employees.

Significant relationships
The Group does not have any contractual or other relationships with any single party which are essential to the business of the 
Group and, therefore, no such relationships have been disclosed.

By order of the Board

Jonathan D Jowett
Company Secretary
Greggs plc (CRN 502851) 
27 February 2018

Greggs House
Quorum Business Park
Benton Lane
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE12 8BU

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

47

Directors’ ReportAUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT

The Committee plays  
an important part in  
the governance of  
the Company

Introduction
I am pleased to introduce the report of the Audit 
Committee for 2017.

The Committee plays an important part in the 
governance of the Company with its principal 
activities focused on the integrity of financial 
reporting, quality and effectiveness of internal and 
external audit, risk management and the system  
of internal control.

I have set out below the main matters considered by 
the Committee during the year and the conclusions 
drawn. We meet formally at key times within our 
reporting calendar and the agendas for our meetings 
are designed to cover all significant areas of risk over 
the course of the year and to provide oversight and 
challenge to the key financial judgements, controls 
and processes that operate within the Company.

The Committee continues to keep its activities  
under review in the light of regulatory developments 
and the emergence of best practice. Key topics  
for consideration in 2018 will be the Company’s 
ongoing supply chain investment programme and 
the associated exceptional charges, together with 
the new General Data Protection Regulation which 
comes into effect during the year. Cyber security 
matters continue to be a priority for the Committee, 
as do the Company’s preparations for the 
implementation of IFRS 16 Leasing at the start  
of 2019. 

Overall I am satisfied that the activities of the 
Committee enable it to gain a good understanding 
of the key matters impacting the Company during 
the year, along with oversight of the governance and 
operation of its key controls and ultimately to draw 
the conclusions set out in the report below.

Allison Kirkby
Chair of the Audit Committee
27 February 2018

48

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Composition
The Audit Committee is comprised of the following:

Allison Kirkby (Chair)
Helena Ganczakowski 
Peter McPhillips 
Sandra Turner 

It is the practice of the Company for all independent Non-Executive Directors to serve as members of the Audit Committee.  
There have been no changes in the composition of the Committee during 2017.

Training is provided for any new members of the Audit Committee by way of a thorough induction process which includes access  
to the external auditor, the Head of Business Assurance and relevant members of management.

The Directors’ biographies on pages 38 and 39 detail the Committee members’ previous experience and demonstrate that they 
have experience individually in a range of disciplines relevant to Greggs’ business. The Board considers that Allison Kirkby has 
recent and relevant financial experience.

Role and responsibilities
The Terms of Reference of the Committee can be accessed at:  
http://corporate.greggs.co.uk/investor-centre/corporate-governance/company-documents.

The key responsibilities of the Audit Committee are:
 – ensuring that the accounting and financial policies of the Company are proper and effective;
 – assisting the Board in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities by monitoring the integrity of the accounts and information published 

by the Company and reviewing significant financial judgements contained in them;

 – advising the Board on whether it believes the annual report and accounts, taken as a whole, is fair, balanced and understandable 
and provides the information necessary for shareholders to assess the Company’s position and performance, business model 
and strategy;

 – reviewing the internal financial controls and the Group’s approach to risk management;
 – oversight of whistle-blowing arrangements;
 – monitoring compliance with the Listing Rules and the recommendations of the Governance Code;
 – oversight of the Company’s external and internal auditors and reviewing the effectiveness and objectivity of the audit  

process; and

 – reporting to the Board on how it has discharged its responsibilities.

Meetings during the year
The Audit Committee met four times during the year. Details of Committee members’ attendance is given on page 41.

The Committee normally invites the Company Chairman, the Executive Directors, the Head of Business Assurance and the external 
auditor to attend its meetings. Time is set aside bi-annually for discussion with the external auditor and with the Head of Business 
Assurance, in each case in the absence of all Executive Directors. The Committee also has access to the Company’s management team 
and to its auditor and can seek further professional advice, at the Company’s cost, if required. The Chair has regular contact with the 
Finance Director and internal and external auditors, in addition to scheduled Committee meetings to ensure that emerging issues are 
addressed. She also has access to, and in 2017 made contact several times with, an audit partner independent of the partner 
responsible for the audit.

Financial reporting
In 2017 the Audit Committee reviewed the 2016 annual report, interim results, preliminary results announcement and reports from 
the external auditor on the outcome of their reviews and audits.

During the year, and up to the date of this report, the Committee considered key accounting issues and judgements and related 
disclosures in the Group’s accounts. The significant areas of judgement considered by the Committee in relation to the accounts  
for the 52 weeks ended 30 December 2017 are as follows:

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

49

Directors’ ReportAUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT CONTINUED

Area of focus

Action taken

Understanding and treatment of exceptional items 
The accounts include exceptional items in the current year. 

Costs of £9,862,000 were incurred in 2017 (2016: £5,177,000)  
relating to the restructuring of supply chain operations.

£7,458,000 of this is in respect of redundancy costs (2016: 
£3,961,000) with the balance relating to asset-related costs and 
other contractual obligations. 

Asset-related costs comprise acceleration of depreciation for  
assets with an expected reduction in useful life as a result of the 
restructuring and the cost of disposing of assets which are no  
longer required.

Dilapidations
Dilapidation provisions have been made based on the future 
expected repair costs required to restore the Group’s leased 
buildings to their fair condition at the end of their respective lease 
terms, where it is considered a reliable estimate can be made.

The balance held in respect of dilapidation provisions at the end  
of the year was £2,956,000 (2016: £3,243,000).

Accounting for defined benefit pension schemes
The determination of the defined benefit obligation depends on the 
selection of certain assumptions including the discount rate, inflation 
rates and mortality rates.

There was a change in one of the assumptions used during the year  
in order to more closely align them with those used by the scheme 
actuary when conducting the triennial valuation. Allowance has now 
been made for the commutation of pensions by members on 
retirement based on the actual scheme experience.

The net liability held in relation to defined benefit pension schemes  
at the end of 2017 was £7,506,000 (2016: £22,851,000).

Fair, balanced and understandable
The Committee is responsible for advising the Board on whether  
it believes the annual report and accounts, taken as a whole, is fair, 
balanced and understandable.

Going concern
The accounts continue to be prepared on a going concern basis.

The Committee considered the accounting requirements of IAS1 relating to the 
separate disclosure of material items of income or expense together with the FRC’s 
guidance on the subject, with reference to the costs arising from the decision, 
announced in March 2016, to invest in and reshape the Company’s supply chain  
in order to support future growth.

The Committee ensured that consistent principles were established (and agreed with 
the external auditor) early in the process and that reporting was suitably clear. The 
Committee gave careful consideration to the judgements made in the separate 
disclosure of non-underlying items, both in respect of events occurring in 2017 and 
also changes in circumstance in respect of provisions relating to events from prior 
years, ensuring that the annual report as a whole presents a balanced view, including 
the presentation of GAAP and non-GAAP measures. It concluded that separate 
disclosure should be made of items of expenditure incurred in 2017 related to the 
supply chain investment programme.

The Committee reviewed management’s assessment of the need for dilapidation 
provisions, together with the movement in the provision during the year, and 
concluded that the principles applied were appropriate.

Pension scheme liabilities are assessed on behalf of the Company by independent 
actuaries. The Committee assessed the underlying assumptions and concluded that 
they were appropriate and also discussed the appropriateness of the assumptions 
with the external auditor.

The Committee received a report from the Head of Business Assurance who is not 
involved in the preparation of the annual report and accounts and who conducted an 
independent review of it. The following factors were considered during the course of 
this review:

 –
 –

 –
 –
 –
 –

ensuring that all the statements are consistent with one another;
verifying that figures in the narrative sections are consistent with the relevant 
financial detail;
identifying any duplication of information;
ensuring that the disclosure of non-underlying items is balanced;
confirming that ‘bad news’ is included, as well as ‘good news’; and
highlighting any inappropriate use of technical language or jargon.

The Audit Committee considered the feedback from this report alongside its own review 
of the annual report and accounts when making its recommendation to the Board 
regarding fair, balanced and understandable.

Information provided by the Finance Director regarding future financial plans, risks 
and liquidity is presented to the Committee to enable it to determine whether the 
going concern basis of accounting remained appropriate.

The Committee reviewed and challenged the assumptions used and concluded that 
the Board is able to make the going concern statement on page 45 of the 
Directors’ report.

Viability
Revisions to the UK Corporate Governance Code in 2015 introduced 
a new requirement for the Board to consider the period over which 
they are able to conclude that the Company will remain viable, 
having taken into account severe but plausible risks and risk 
combinations. On account of this being a relatively new 
requirement, the Committee considered this to be a significant 
reporting matter.

The Committee reviewed the process undertaken by management to support and 
allow the Directors to assess the Group’s long-term prospects and make its viability 
statement. The Committee considered and provided input into the determination of 
which of the Group’s principal risks and combinations thereof might have an impact 
on the Group’s liquidity and solvency. The Committee reviewed the results of 
management’s scenario modelling and the stress testing of these models. The 
Committee reviewed and challenged the assumptions used and concluded that  
the Board is able to make the viability statement on page 35 of the strategic report.

50

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

 
The Committee also considered other key accounting issues and related disclosures in the Group’s accounts as follows: 
 – whether any changes in accounting policy were required following changes in the business or in legislation;
 – whether the Company’s tax policy remains appropriate;
 – the impact of changes in accounting standards and their relevance, if any, to the Company; and
 – reports from the Company Secretary and Finance Director which assess the Company’s compliance with the Listing Rules.

Two areas which were previously considered to be significant – accounting for onerous leases and shop asset impairment – are no 
longer included above as the amounts provided have been utilised to such an extent that they are no longer material. As a result 
the Committee does not consider the judgements required to be significant to the accounts.

External audit
Assessing external audit effectiveness
The Audit Committee discussed and agreed the scope of the audit with the external auditor and agreed their fees in respect of the audit. 

The Committee reviewed the effectiveness of the external audit in line with the Financial Reporting Council’s ‘Practice aid for audit 
committees’ (May 2015). It considered the results of external quality inspections by the Audit Quality Inspection Team on other KPMG 
clients. It sought feedback from senior management, by way of a detailed questionnaire, in respect of the effectiveness of the audit 
process with particular reference to audit planning and design and audit execution.

The Committee also considered the effectiveness of the audit through the reporting from and communications with the auditor and  
an assessment of the auditor’s approach to key areas of judgement and any errors identified during the course of the audit.

The Committee concluded that the audit was effective and that the relationship and effectiveness of the external auditor be kept  
under review. 

Appointing the auditor and safeguards on non-audit services 
KPMG has been the Company’s auditor for more than 20 years and the transitional rules in the EU Directive require an initial change 
of audit firms no later than 2020. Having reappointed KPMG in 2014 following a competitive tender, the Committee expects to 
change audit firms in accordance with the requirements of the EU directive. The Committee will continue to consider annually 
whether to conduct an audit tender for audit quality or independence reasons.

The current audit partner is Mick Thompson who has held the role since 2013. He retires by rotation after the conclusion of the 2017 
audit and will be replaced by Nick Plumb.

The Audit Committee confirms that the Company complies with the Statutory Audit Services for Large Companies Market 
Investigation (Mandatory use of Competitive Tender Process and Audit Committee Responsibilities) Order 2014.

It is the responsibility of the Committee to monitor the independence and objectivity of the external auditor (including the impact 
of any non-audit work undertaken by it) and its suitability for re-appointment. 

The Company has a formal policy to ensure that the provision of non-audit services by the external auditor for non-audit work does 
not compromise the auditor’s independence or objectivity. It monitors the level and type of non-audit fees on an annual basis and 
ensures that the overall level of non-audit fees remains in line with current ethical guidance governing the accounting profession.

The Audit Committee favours a presumption that non-audit work will be awarded to a firm other than the audit firm unless there is  
a good reason to use the auditor. An annual base plan for non-audit fees paid to the external auditor is agreed in advance by the 
Audit Committee. Expenditure in accordance with this plan can then be committed without further referral to the Audit Committee. 
Expenditure that is not included in the agreed plan is subject to strict authority limits and is reviewed by the Committee. During 
2017, in response to the implementation of the EC Audit Directive and Regulation in the UK, new providers were appointed in 
respect of taxation services that had previously been provided by KPMG.

All use of the external auditor for non-audit work must be reported to and approved by the Committee. In circumstances where 
non-audit fees are significant relative to the audit fee an explanation would be provided in the subsequent Audit Committee 
Report. In addition, the Audit Committee ensures that the external auditor has its own policies and is subject to professional 
standards designed to safeguard their independence as auditor.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

51

Directors’ ReportAUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT CONTINUED

The Audit Committee has reviewed whether, and is satisfied that, the Company’s auditor, KPMG LLP, continues to be objective  
and independent of the Company. KPMG LLP did perform non-audit services during 2017 for the Group but the Audit Committee 
is satisfied that its objectivity was not impaired by such work.

In 2017, the charge to the income statement in respect of non-audit fees paid to KPMG LLP and related KPMG operations 
amounted to £17,000 (which is 11 per cent of the audit fee for the year) and related to audit of turnover statements required  
by shop landlords and pension scheme audits. 

Reappointment of auditor 
In accordance with Section 489 of the Companies Act 2006, a resolution for the reappointment of KPMG LLP will be proposed  
at the forthcoming AGM.

Risk management and internal control
Internal control
The Committee reviewed the Company’s internal control environment to satisfy itself that procedures are in place to ensure that 
assets are well protected, authority levels for expenditure are clear, segregation of duties exists and performance is regularly 
monitored. Processes are in place to ensure that key controls are being operated and compliance with these processes is the 
subject of inspection by the Internal Audit team and subsequent review by the Audit Committee. 

Whistle-blowing
The Company’s whistle-blowing policy is made available to all employees through the intranet, as well as via posters displayed 
across the business. This gives information regarding how to raise a concern in strict confidence. Two reports were made during  
the year, relating to inappropriate management behaviour and product theft. Both events were reported directly to the Chair  
of the Audit Committee by telephone or email. The case of low level theft related to our franchise operation, and this was  
referred to the relevant franchise partner for action. The issue concerning management behaviour was investigated internally, and 
appropriate action taken by senior management to address the matter. The outcome of both matters was reported to the Board 
during the year.

The Company’s whistle-blowing policy was last subject to a detailed review in 2016 and updated to align with best practice.  
The Audit Committee is confident that it remains appropriate and fit for purpose.

Risk management process
The Audit Committee undertakes a review of the risk management process in the Group at least annually, as set out in its terms  
of reference. The process is detailed on page 33, and has been reviewed by the Committee to confirm its appropriateness in light 
of the risks identified. The key areas that the Committee has specifically considered are as follows:

Area of focus

Action taken

New and emerging risks

The Audit Committee considers areas of new and emerging risk which have been identified by the 
business via the Risk Committee. It assesses these for completeness, and raises any other areas which  
it believes should be documented within the Company’s risk register. 

Cyber risk and information security

The Company’s approach to cyber risk and information security is considered at every Audit Committee 
meeting, by receiving a regular update on activity. During the year, this has included consideration of the 
Company’s preparation for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The Committee received  
a training session from the external auditor to enhance their understanding of the new requirements.

Business transformation

Review of principal risks  
and uncertainties

The Committee has received reports on progress with the Company’s transformation programme, 
including supply chain investment and SAP implementation.

The proposed disclosure of principal risks and uncertainties was prepared by the Risk Committee, 
based on its discussions during the year. The statement was then considered and approved by the 
Audit Committee.

52

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Internal audit
The work of the internal audit function is set out in more detail within the principal risks and uncertainties statement on pages  
33 to 37 of this annual report. The team is led by the Head of Business Assurance, supported by the Risk Manager, the Information 
Security & Compliance Manager and 14 auditors. The majority of the audit team work across the retail estate to provide assurance 
over the Company’s retail operations. We have strengthened our resource allocated to information security with a temporary 
appointment, to assist with GDPR preparation.

The Audit Committee approves the annual plan for the team and monitors progress against that plan. The effectiveness of the 
internal audit team and its level of resource are reviewed by the Committee at least annually. This review includes assessing  
the delivery of the audit plan, considering the function’s output across the year, and evaluating customer feedback received by  
the team.

Committee effectiveness
Each year the Committee reviews critically its own performance, assisted by consideration of a series of questions, and considers 
where improvements can be made.

Allison Kirkby
Chair of the Audit Committee
27 February 2018

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

53

Directors’ ReportREMUNERATION COMMITTEE REPORT

The Committee has 
continued to ensure  
that executive 
remuneration is  
closely aligned to the 
delivery of Greggs’ 
business strategy

54

Greggs plc Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Dear shareholders,
I am pleased to present our remuneration report for 2017. 

We have continued to be as transparent as possible with this year’s 
remuneration report, aiming for a report that is easy to read, 
follow and understand. 

The report is made up of three key sections:
 – This annual Chair’s letter.
 – Our remuneration policy report, which sets out a summary  

of the Directors’ remuneration policy for all Directors of 
Greggs. This policy was formally agreed at our AGM held  
on 19 May 2017. 

 – Our annual remuneration report, split into two sections that 

set out:
 – how our remuneration policy will be implemented in 2018; and
 – how our remuneration policy was implemented in 2017.  
This is an audited section of the report outlining the 
remuneration of the Company’s Executive and Non-
Executive Directors during the 52 weeks ended 
30 December 2017. 

The annual remuneration report is subject to an advisory 
shareholder vote at the 2018 AGM.

Remuneration policy 
We are in year one of a three-year policy, and in developing this 
policy the Committee was very aware that executive remuneration 
continues to be a key focus for shareholders, as well as being a 
topic that is regularly discussed in the public domain. Throughout 
2017 the Committee has continued to assess the effectiveness of 
overall levels of remuneration and continues to review emerging 
market practice and best practice expectations in line with the 
business strategy. The Committee has taken into account a 
number of reference points, both internal and external. 
Independent advice was also sought, where appropriate,  
from the Committee’s advisors. 

Remuneration structure and philosophy
The existing remuneration framework consists of the  
following elements:
 – fixed pay – base salary, pension and benefits; and 
 – variable pay – annual bonus (paid in both cash and deferred 

shares) and performance share plan (PSP).

The Committee believes that the current structure works well  
and remains fit-for-purpose. It is simple and consistent, with pay 
outcomes dependent upon performance linked to our business 
strategy. It ensures a significant proportion of pay is delivered in 
shares to provide alignment with investors and incorporates a 
number of best practice features, including a two-year post-
vesting holding period for PSP awards. 

Since announcing our five-year strategic plan in 2013, transforming 
the business from a traditional bakery into a modern food-on-the-
go-retailer, we have delivered excellent operational and financial 
performance. In the four years since 2013 our company-managed 
like-for-like sales have grown by 17.1 per cent and pre-tax profit 
(excluding exceptional items) has increased by 98 per cent, 
reflecting sales growth combined with significant savings arising 
from structural changes and investment in better processes  
and systems. This is reflected in strong EPS growth (averaging  
21 per cent p.a. since 2013). 

Policy report review 
Our remuneration policy report sets out our policy for the three years from 2017 and was put to a binding vote of shareholders at the 
AGM on 19 May 2017. This policy was approved with a majority vote of 93.91 per cent. Our related amendment to the PSP rules was also 
approved with a majority vote of 97.14 per cent. 

Approval of this policy has ensured that we have strengthened the alignment between Executive Directors and shareholders and kept 
the team focused on long-term, sustainable value creation for our shareholders. We have reviewed the policy again and are comfortable 
that it remains appropriate to ensure the team running our business are incentivised going forwards, whilst at the same time ensuring 
the policy is flexible to remain applicable over the remaining two years of the policy period. Accordingly there are no changes to our 
policy proposed in 2018.

Performance in 2017 and incentive payments 
Despite challenging conditions, including significant cost headwinds, a busy change agenda and the continued major investment in line 
with our strategic plan, the Company has delivered another year of solid performance. The business has performed well against the 
stretching financial targets as described in the financial review on pages 24 to 27. Against the targets set at the beginning of the year  
for the annual bonus the profit element resulted in 22.54 per cent of the maximum being achieved with 12.53 per cent of the maximum 
sales performance being achieved. Despite significant cost challenges facing the business a strong control on costs resulted in 9.25 per 
cent of the maximum being achieved. 

There was a stronger performance in the strategic objectives that were set and we made excellent progress with our technology and 
supply chain change programme. This resulted in 100 per cent bonus payment against these strategic elements. Overall annual 
bonuses representing 80.4 per cent (out of a maximum possible of 125 per cent) and 57.9 per cent (out of a maximum possible of 90 per 
cent) of salary will be payable to the Chief Executive and Finance Director, respectively. Any element of the bonus earned above 50 per 
cent of the maximum will be paid in shares and will be subject to a two-year holding period. 

Under the Performance Share Plan, awards made in March 2015 are due to vest in March 2018. These awards are based on EPS growth 
over the three years to 30 December 2017 and average annual ROCE over the three-year performance period 2015 to 2017. EPS has 
grown by 12.86 per cent and our average annual ROCE was 27.3 per cent, which meant that the performance condition was achieved  
in full. For the purpose of calculating total remuneration payable we have therefore assumed full vesting of the award.

The Committee is very comfortable that this performance justifies a full vesting level for this award. 

Approach for 2018
The salary increase for both the Chief Executive and Finance Director was in line with that of the base increase for the workforce 
generally and was 2.8 per cent. Increases to salaries and Non-Executive Directors’ fees took effect from 1 January 2018.

As part of the Committee’s ongoing review of best practice and a review of the market, the target-setting process for the annual bonus 
has been reviewed. The Committee believes that the nature of the current measures (profit, sales and strategic objectives) remains 
appropriate and no changes are proposed to the measures or the mix. Financial targets for these measures for the 2018 annual bonus 
have been set in line with the financial plan for the business for the year and the rolling five-year strategic plan, and continue to be 
stretching. We will also continue to require any bonus earned over 50 per cent of the maximum to be payable in shares and be subject 
to a two-year holding period. The Committee has reviewed the percentage pay out for on target performance for the profit and sales 
element of the bonus and has decided to move this to 50 per cent (increased from 30 per cent in 2017). This change recognises the 
challenging nature of the targets we have set for 2018 and, more generally, we have a record of setting very demanding targets in the 
context of prior year performance and market expectations. We believe this has been demonstrated by the 2017 bonus outcomes as 
discussed above, where outcomes were well below the maximum, notwithstanding Greggs’ strong performance during the year. We 
have also been cognisant of wider market practice, where a 50 per cent payout for target performance is the norm (even in bonus 
schemes where the maximum opportunity is greater than at Greggs). The 50 per cent level remains lower than the 60 per cent level 
which we applied prior to 2017. Threshold performance will remain at ten per cent pay out. Due to the commercial sensitivity of the 2018 
bonus targets they are not disclosed within this report, but will be disclosed retrospectively in next year’s report.

Under the PSP the Committee has considered the performance conditions and has determined that EPS and ROCE should continue to 
apply with an equal weighting given to each. The Committee has ensured that targets have been set for the year ahead which reflect 
the strategic plan and business outlook over the performance period. Consequently, the ROCE ranges have been increased to ensure 
that they remain appropriately stretching in light of our business strategy, without encouraging undue risk taking.

Concluding remarks 
I hope that you will find this report transparent, clear and informative. The Committee has continued to ensure that executive 
remuneration is closely aligned to the delivery of Greggs’ business strategy as well as remaining relevant to market and best practice. 

I look forward to receiving your continued support at this year’s AGM.

Yours faithfully 

Sandra Turner
Chair of the Remuneration Committee
27 February 2018

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

55

Directors’ ReportREMUNERATION COMMITTEE REPORT CONTINUED

Remuneration policy report 
This section of our report sets out the summary of the remuneration policy for all Executive and Non-Executive Directors at Greggs. 
It explains the purpose and strategy of each element of the package and demonstrates how the policy will incentivise Executive 
Directors to achieve sustainable long-term growth and value that will best serve the interests of the Company, its shareholders, its 
employees and customers. 

Our Directors’ remuneration policy was approved by shareholders at our AGM on 19 May 2017 and became effective for three years 
from that date. 

The policy for the remuneration of the Executive and Non-Executive Directors is set out in the tables below:

Maximum opportunity

Key reference points for salary 
increases are market and 
economic conditions and,  
in line with our values, the 
approach to employee pay 
throughout the organisation.

No maximum limit is prescribed 
particularly as the cost of 
providing insured benefits 
fluctuates over time. However,  
the Committee monitors on an 
annual basis the overall cost of the 
benefit provision. 

Up to 22.5% of base salary 
contribution for the Chief 
Executive and up to 15%  
of base salary for other  
Executive Directors.

Capped at 125% of base salary  
for the Chief Executive and 90% 
of base salary for other 
Executive Directors.

On target performance delivers 
no more than 60% of 
the maximum.

No more than 25% of the bonus 
opportunity is payable under 
each element for threshold 
performance.

Executive Directors 

Element 

Purpose and strategy 

Operation

Base salary

To attract and retain high calibre 
individuals in order to promote the 
long-term success of the business.

Reviewed and set annually in January.

Benchmarked periodically by the Committee against the 
remuneration levels for executives in similar roles in companies 
of a comparable size. Individual performance and contribution 
is recognised in setting salary levels. 

Salaries are paid monthly in cash.

Benefits

To support a competitive 
remuneration package in  
the marketplace.

Benefits include provision of a company car (or cash in lieu), 
private medical health care, life assurance and permanent 
health insurance.

Pension 

To support a competitive 
remuneration package in  
the marketplace.

Annual bonus 
(including 
profit share)

To incentivise achievement of 
annual targets and objectives 
consistent with the short to 
medium-term strategic needs of 
the business, so as to encourage 
sustainable growth in the 
Company’s operating profits.

Executive Directors can elect to either:

 – participate in the Company defined contribution pension 
scheme (up to a cap). Above the cap Executive Directors 
receive a salary supplement; or 

 – take cash in lieu of this contribution paid as a supplement  

to their salary on a monthly basis. 

The Executive Directors are able to make this choice on an annual 
basis. The remuneration adjustment is disclosed later in this report.

The bonus will be based on a mix of business KPIs, with operating 
profit being the largest component of the mix of metrics and this 
will not be less than 50% of the overall mix.

Targets for each metric are set in advance and in line with 
business planning objectives set by the Committee. 

Each Executive Director is entitled to participate in the 
Company’s profit sharing scheme available to all employees.  
The value of this is then deducted from their annual bonus and  
is subject to the individual cap. 

The Committee will use appropriate underpins for any non-profit, 
based element of the annual bonus such that payment under 
these elements may be scaled back (potentially to zero), at the 
discretion of the Committee, in the event that the operating 
profit performance for the year is judged to be running 
significantly below that required for the achievement of the 
long-term strategy.

Any bonus paid in excess of 50% of the maximum will be payable 
in shares, which (after any sales to pay tax and other statutory 
deductions) must be held in the Employee Benefit Trust for two 
years after receipt.

The dividends payable on deferred bonus shares are paid to the 
individual as they fall due.

Recovery and withholding provisions allow the Company to 
recoup annual bonus payments within three years in the event  
of misstatement of performance, error or misconduct, where this 
has led to an overpayment in the view of the Committee. There  
is a flexible mechanism which allows the Company to withhold 
outstanding deferred or future remuneration or recover the 
overpayment direct from the individual concerned.

56

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

 
Element 

Purpose and strategy 

Operation

Performance 
Share Plan 
(PSP) 

To incentivise long-term  
value creation, retention of  
our talent and ensure alignment  
of Executive Directors’ and 
shareholders’ interests.

Awards are granted under the PSP annually at the discretion  
of the Committee.

Performance conditions will be based on an equal split of two 
different financial measures, EPS and ROCE (for discrete parts 
of an award). Targets will be set for each metric which reflect 
the strategic plan and business outlook over the respective 
performance period. The mix may alter for future awards and/ 
or different metrics, such as TSR, may be used. Performance 
will be measured over a three-year period with an additional 
mandatory holding period of two years for the vested shares 
(net of tax and other deductions).

Recovery and withholding provisions allow the Company to 
recoup vested Performance Share awards within three years  
in the event of misstatement of performance, error or 
misconduct, where this has led to an overpayment in the view 
of the Committee. There is a flexible mechanism which allows 
the Company to withhold outstanding deferred or future 
remuneration, or recover the overpayment directly from the 
individual concerned.

Maximum opportunity

115% of base salary for Chief 
Executive and 95% of base 
salary for other Executive 
Directors 150% of base salary  
in exceptional circumstances.

Threshold vesting at 25% of  
the maximum.

Saving Related 
Share Option 
Scheme
(SAYE and SIP)

To encourage employees at all 
levels within the Company to 
understand better and so 
participate in the growth in value  
of the Company.

No performance conditions have been attached to options 
granted pursuant to the Company’s SAYE and SIP Schemes, 
which are available for all employees. 

The rules of these schemes require that all options granted 
must be on the same terms.

Executive Directors may enter  
into a contract to save up to an 
agreed saving limit in line with all 
colleagues in the business and 
HMRC guidelines.

Share retention 
guidelines 

To further align the interests  
of Executive Directors to those  
of shareholders.

Executive Directors are required to build up a shareholding  
of 200% of base salary within five years of appointment. 

n/a

This is achieved through vested awards granted via the PSP 
and deferred bonus shares. 

Non-Executive Directors

Element 

Purpose and strategy 

Operation

Non-Executive 
Chairman and 
Directors’ fees

To attract and retain high quality 
and experienced Non-Executive 
Chairman and Directors. 

The Chairman is paid an all-encompassing fee.

Non-Executive Directors are paid a basic fee and the Chairs  
of the Main Board Committees and the Senior Independent 
Director (SID) are paid an additional fee to reflect their 
additional responsibilities. Where the SID role is combined 
with that of chairing a Committee then only one fee is paid.

These fees are reviewed and set annually in December and 
implemented from 1 January. 

Non-Executive Directors are not eligible for pension scheme 
membership, bonus or incentive arrangements. They are 
entitled to reimbursement of reasonable business expenses 
and tax thereon. They may also receive limited travel or 
accommodation related benefits in connection with their role 
as a Director.

Maximum opportunity

There is no 
prescribed maximum.

Difference in remuneration policy across the Group 
The remuneration policy for the Executive Directors is designed having regard to the policy for employees across the Group as  
a whole.

There are differences in salary levels and in the levels of potential reward depending upon seniority and responsibility, although  
a key reference point for executive salary increases is the average increase across the general workforce. A higher proportion of the 
Executive Directors’ remuneration package is delivered through performance-related pay and in share-based form, which provide  
a good link to long-term Company performance.

All colleagues, with one-year’s service or more, may participate in the SAYE scheme and in the SIP that are run annually. Under the SAYE 
scheme, at the end of a three-year saving period, colleagues can buy Greggs shares at a discounted rate.

With the SIP, all colleagues may purchase Company shares from pre-tax salary subject to HMRC limits. After six months’ service all 
colleagues are eligible to participate in the profit-sharing scheme in which they share ten per cent of our profits. 

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

57

Directors’ Report 
REMUNERATION COMMITTEE REPORT CONTINUED

Policy discretion
The Committee will operate incentive plans in accordance with their respective rules, the Listing Rules and the HMRC limits where 
relevant. The Committee, consistent with market practice, retains discretion over a number of areas relating to the operation and 
administration of certain plan rules. These include (but are not limited to) the following: 
 – who participates; 
 – the timing of the grant of award and/or payment;
 – the size of an award (up to plan/policy limits) and/or a payment;
 – discretion relating to the measurement of performance in the event of a change of control or reconstruction;
 – determination of a good leaver (in addition to any specified categories) for incentive plan purposes and the treatment of leavers;
 – adjustments required in certain circumstances (e.g. rights issues, corporate restructuring and special dividends); and
 – the ability to adjust existing performance conditions for exceptional events so that they can still fulfil their original purpose.

Legacy arrangements
For the avoidance of doubt, in approving this policy report, authority is given to the Company to honour any commitments entered 
into with current or former Directors (such as the payment of a pension or the unwinding of legacy share schemes) that have been 
disclosed to shareholders in previous remuneration reports. Details of any of these payments to former Directors will be set out in 
the annual report on remuneration as they arise.

Policy on recruitment remuneration
The Committee will aim to set a new Executive Director’s remuneration package in line with the Company’s approved policy at the 
time of appointment. The Committee will take into account, in arriving at a total package and in considering the quantum for each 
element of the package, the skills and experience of the candidate, the market rate for a candidate of that experience as well as the 
importance of securing the best available candidate. 

Annual bonus and PSP awards will not exceed the policy maxima (not including any arrangements to replace forfeited deferred 
pay). Participation in the annual bonus plan and PSP will normally be pro-rated for the year of joining. The Committee may make 
one-off additional cash and/or share-based awards as it deems appropriate, and if the circumstances so demand to take account  
of deferred pay forfeited by an Executive Director on leaving a previous employer. Awards to replace deferred pay forfeited would, 
where possible, reflect the nature of awards forfeited in terms of delivery mechanism (cash or shares), time horizons, attributed 
expected value and performance conditions. Other payments may be made in relation to relocation expenses and other incidental 
expenses as appropriate. Any buyout awards would be made under existing arrangements where possible or as permitted under 
the Listing Rules.

In the case of an internal appointment, any variable pay element awarded in respect of the prior role would be allowed to pay out 
according to its terms and any other ongoing remuneration obligations existing prior to appointment would continue.

For the appointment of a new Chairman or Non-Executive Director, the fee arrangement would be set in accordance with the 
approved remuneration policy at that time. 

Service contracts and policy on cessation
Executive Directors’ service contracts contain the following remuneration-related aspects:

Provision 

Detailed terms 

Remuneration

 – Salary, pension and benefits;
 – company car or cash allowance;
 – private medical health care for the Director;
 – permanent health insurance;
 – participation in annual bonus and profit share (subject to scheme rules);
 – participation in long-term incentive schemes or similar arrangements (subject to scheme rules); and
 – life assurance.

Notice period

 – Chief Executive’s contract is terminable on 12 months’ notice served by either the Company or  

the Director;

 – other Executive Directors’ service contracts are terminable on 12 months’ notice served by the 

Company or by six months’ notice served by the Director; and

 – any future Executive Directors’ service contracts will be terminable on 12 months’ notice served  

by either party.

Termination payment

 – Payment in lieu of notice equal to any unexpired notice of termination given by either party; and 
 – payment in lieu shall not include:

 – any bonus payment;
 – any payment in respect of benefits which the Director would have been entitled to receive; and
 – any payment in respect of any holiday entitlement that would have accrued during the period for 

which the payment in lieu is made.

Details of the circumstances in which the Committee has the ability to exercise discretion with regards  
to Termination Payments are set out opposite.

58

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

The Company’s policy is that current Executive Directors’ service contracts do not have a specific duration but may be terminated 
with twelve months’ notice from the Company and six months’ notice from the Executive Director. Any future Executive Directors’ 
service contracts will be terminable on 12 months’ notice served by either party. Under their service contracts the Executive 
Directors are entitled to salary, pension contributions and benefits for their notice period save where a payment in lieu is to be 
made. The Company would seek to ensure that any payment is mitigated by use of phased payments and offset against earnings 
elsewhere in the event that an Executive Director finds alternative employment during his notice period. There are no contractual 
provisions in force other than those set out above that impact any termination payment. 

Areas where the Committee can exercise discretion with regards to Termination Payments:
 – annual bonus may be payable pro-rated for that part of the year worked;
 – deferred bonus shares must normally be retained in trust until the end of their two year holding period and will be subject  
to recovery and withholding in the event of misstatement of performance, error or misconduct, where this has led to an 
overpayment in the view of the Committee for a period of three years from the payment date;

 – any unvested awards held under the PSP will lapse at cessation, unless the individual is leaving in good leaver circumstances 

(defined under the plan as death, injury, ill-health, disability, redundancy, retirement, his office or employment being with either 
a company which ceases to be a Group member or relating to a business or part of a business which is transferred to a person 
who is not a Group member, a change of control or any other reason the Committee so decides). In these circumstances, 
unvested awards will normally vest at the normal vesting date (other than on death or where the Committee decides they should 
vest at cessation) subject to performance conditions being met and scaling back in respect of actual service as a proportion of 
the total vesting period (unless the Committee decides that scaling back is inappropriate). Vested awards will normally be 
subject to the mandatory two-year holding period although the Committee will have discretion to waive this in exceptional 
circumstances; and

 – the Committee may agree to payment of disbursements such as legal costs and outplacement services if appropriate and 

depending on the circumstances of cessation.

The table below sets out the details of the Executive Directors’ service contracts:

Director

Roger Whiteside
Richard Hutton

Date of contract

4 February 2013
7 April 2006

Raymond Reynolds stepped down from the Main Board on 19 May 2017. 

The service contracts are available for inspection during normal business hours at the Company’s registered office, and are 
available for inspection at the AGM.

Expected value of the proposed annual remuneration package for Executive Directors 
The following charts indicate the level of remuneration payable to Executive Directors in 2018 based on policy at ‘minimum’ 
remuneration, remuneration in line with ‘on target’ Company performance, and the maximum remuneration available. 

Chief Executive – Roger Whiteside

£2,003,060

Minimum

On target

Stretch

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

£1,412,756

22%

29%

49%

32%

34%

34%

£685,172

100%

Minimum

On target

Stretch

PSP

Bonus

Fixed remuneration

Fixed remuneration:
salary
pension
benefits

Bonus

Performance Share Plan

£549,120
£123,552
£12,500

£549,120
£123,552
£12,500

£549,120
£123,552
£12,500

–

–

£411,840

£686,400

£315,744

£631,488

Total

£685,172

£1,412,756

£2,003,060

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

59

Directors’ ReportREMUNERATION COMMITTEE REPORT CONTINUED

Finance Director – Richard Hutton 

1,000

800

600

400

200

0

£687,863

21%

25%

54%

£369,469

100%

£949,794

31%

30%

39%

Minimum

On target

Stretch

PSP

Bonus

Fixed remuneration

Fixed remuneration:
salary
pension
benefits

Bonus

Performance Share Plan

Minimum

On target

Stretch

£313,689
£40,780
£15,000

£313,689
£40,780
£15,000

£313,689
£40,780
£15,000

–

–

£169,392

£282,320

£149,002

£298,005

Total

£369,469

£687,863

£949,794

Assumptions used in the charts:
Base salary levels as at 1 January 2018.
The value of taxable benefits is based on the cost of supplying those benefits (as disclosed) for the 52 weeks ended 30 December 2017.

BONUS 
Minimum remuneration – assumes no award is earned under the annual bonus plan.
On target remuneration – the annual bonus plan assumes the target level is reached for each of the elements:
– 50% of profit (total 25% of max potential)
– 50% LFL sales (total 10% of max potential)
– Mid-range for costs (total 5% of max potential)
– Full pay out for strategic elements (10% for each element giving a total 20% of max potential) 
Calculated as 60 per cent of max potential – 75 per cent of salary for CEO and 54 per cent of salary for FD
Maximum remuneration – assumes full vesting for all elements under the annual bonus plan and therefore full pay out. Calculated as 125 per cent of salary for CEO and 
90 percent of salary for FD.

PSP element is calculated as award percentage of base salary multiplied by the relevant vesting percentage. Share price movement and dividend accrual have been excluded.

Minimum remuneration – assumes no vesting is achieved under the PSP.
On target remuneration – assumes 50% vesting is achieved and is calculated as 50 per cent of 115 per cent of salary for CEO and 50 per cent of 95 per cent of salary for FD. 
Maximum remuneration – assumes full vesting is achieved and is calculated as 100 per cent of 115 per cent of salary for CEO and 100 per cent of 95 per cent of salary for FD.

Terms of appointment of Non-Executive Directors

Non-Executive Directors are appointed subject to the Company’s articles of association, retiring and seeking election at the first AGM 
after appointment. Thereafter, every Director will be subject to annual re-election by shareholders. The Nominations Committee 
advises the Board as to whether Directors should be nominated for re-election. Non-Executive Directors are not entitled to 
compensation for early termination of their appointments prior to the date on which they would next be due to offer themselves for 
election or re-election, or if not re-appointed at such time.

The following table shows the effective date of appointment for each Non-Executive Director:

Non-Executive Director

Ian Durant
Allison Kirkby
Helena Ganczakowski
Peter McPhillips
Sandra Turner

Original date of appointment

5 October 2011
 30 January 2013
2 January 2014
10 March 2014
1 May 2014

Non-Executive Directors are appointed on an understanding that the appointment will last for at least six years, but without any 
commitment by either party.

60

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Annual remuneration report
Our remuneration policy is simple and consistent, with pay outcomes dependent upon performance linked to our business strategy.  
It ensures a significant proportion of pay is delivered in shares to provide alignment with investors and incorporates a number of best 
practice features.

Outlined below are the current Remuneration Committee members: 

Member 

Sandra Turner (Chair since appointment to the Board)
Allison Kirkby
Helena Ganczakowski
Peter McPhillips

Meeting attendance

2/2
2/2
2/2
2/2

All members are considered to be independent for the purpose of the UK Corporate Governance code and the Company Secretary 
acts as Secretary to the Committee. 

Responsibility is delegated to the Remuneration Committee to ensure that an effective remuneration policy is in place for the Chief 
Executive, the Chairman and other Executive and Non-Executive Directors. It is the Committee’s role to design a policy to ensure that 
executive remuneration is aligned to the delivery of Greggs’ business strategy and the alignment between our Executive Directors and 
shareholders is strengthened whilst taking close account of the business strategy, current and emerging market practice and the best 
practice expectations of institutional shareholders.

The Committee maintains an active dialogue with institutional investors and shareholder representatives and although the Committee 
does not currently consult with employees on Directors’ pay policy this is kept under review. The Committee will give further 
consideration to this during 2018 in light of the proposed changes to the UK Corporate Governance Code.

Summary of committee activity during 2017
During 2017 the committee has:
 – Finalised the review of the remuneration policy.
 – Discussed and reviewed Directors’ salaries.
 – Discussed and reviewed bonus percentage, bonus metrics and bonus deferral.
 – Discussed and reviewed the targets for bonus and PSP for the year ahead.
 – Approved grants under the share option scheme (to senior managers below Operating Board level) and the Company SAYE scheme.
 – Appointed new advisors to the Remuneration Committee.

Structure and content of the remuneration report 
The Remuneration Report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2006 (the Act) and The Large  
and Medium-sized Companies and Groups (Accounts and Reports) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 (the Regulations). It also meets the 
requirements of the UK Listing Authority’s Listing Rules.

The Regulations also require our auditor to report to shareholders on the audited information within this remuneration report and to 
state whether, in their opinion, the relevant sections have been prepared in accordance with the Act and the Regulations. The auditor’s 
opinion is set out on pages 71 to 75 and we have indicated appropriately the audited sections of this remuneration report.

Remuneration advice
The Chief Executive along with Jonathan Jowett (Company Secretary and General Counsel), Roisin Currie (Retail & People Director)  
and Emma Walton (Head of People) are normally invited to attend the Committee meetings in order to provide advice and support  
to the Committee. During the year NBS, part of Aon plc, supported the Committee. 

NBS is a signatory to the Remuneration Consultants’ Code of Conduct in relation to executive remuneration consulting in the UK. 

The Committee appointed new advisors, Korn Ferry Hay Group, in December 2017. Korn Ferry Hay Group is also a signatory to the 
Remuneration Consultants’ Code of Conduct.

The Committee reviewed the operating processes in place at NBS and Korn Ferry and is satisfied that the advice it receives is objective 
and independent. Fees paid to NBS during the year were £12,800. No fees were paid to Korn Ferry Hay Group during the year.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

61

Directors’ ReportREMUNERATION COMMITTEE REPORT CONTINUED

Shareholder dialogue
The voting outcome from the 2017 Annual General Meeting reflected both strong individual and institutional shareholder support. 

Shareholders were asked to approve the 2016 Directors’ remuneration report, our new remuneration policy and an amendment to the 
PSP and did so as outlined below. We will continue to engage with shareholders to understand any concerns they may have about our 
policy and its implementation during the life of the new policy.

For
Against

Total votes cast (excluding votes withheld)

Votes withheld

Total votes cast (including votes withheld)

For
Against

Total votes cast (excluding votes withheld)

Votes withheld

Total votes cast (including votes withheld)

For
Against

Total votes cast (excluding votes withheld)

Votes withheld

Total votes cast (including votes withheld)

Votes withheld are not included in the final proxy figures as they are not recognised as a vote in law.

How our remuneration policy will be implemented in 2018 – Executive Directors 
The section below summarises the implementation of our remuneration policy for 2018.

Approve the remuneration report

Total number  

of votes

% of votes cast

95.66%
4.34%

100%

57,539,485
2,607,460

60,146,945

170,676

61,185,466

Approve the remuneration policy

Total number  

of votes

% of votes cast

93.91%
6.09%

100%

57,297,311
3,717,480

61,014,791

170,676

61,185,467

Approve amendment to PSP

Total number  

of votes

% of votes cast

97.14%
2.86%

100%

59,300,511
1,747,528

61,048,039

137,428

61,185,467

Base salary 2018
The annual base salaries for the Executive Directors were reviewed with effect from 1 January 2018; increases and current salaries are 
outlined below: 

Salary as at  

Salary as at  

Director

Roger Whiteside (Chief Executive)
Richard Hutton (Finance Director)

1 January 2017

1 January 2018

% increase

£534,163
£305,145

£549,120
£313,689

2.8%
2.8%

Increases are in line with the average base salary increase for the workforce as a whole. 

Pension contribution 2018
The pension contribution rates (both of which are cash in lieu) are:

Roger Whiteside
Richard Hutton

Annual bonus 2018
The annual bonus opportunity for 2018 is outlined below: 

22.5% 
13% 

Chief Executive

Finance Director

• Maximum opportunity of 125% of base salary.
• Bonus in excess of 50% of maximum will be payable in shares deferred for two years. 

• Maximum opportunity of 90% of base salary.
• Bonus in excess of 50% of maximum will be payable in shares deferred for two years. 

62

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

 
The bonus metrics are:

Measure

Weighting 

Detail and link to strategy.

Profit

50% of total

Sales

20% of total

Reflects the profit of the Group 
at an underlying level before  
tax. This will be based on 
meeting and exceeding  
budget for the year.

Based on company-managed 
shop like-for-like sales  
excluding any additional  
shops opened during the 
bonus year.

Strategic objectives

30% of total

Detailed below.

The strategic objectives for each bonus cycle are based on measures which will provide a strong link to future value creation.  
For the 2018 bonus the three strategic objectives, each relating to ten per cent of the bonus opportunity, will be:
i.  Cost savings (ten per cent of the measure); 
ii.  Specific project delivery within our change programme regarding processes and systems with two elements measured 

independently, both elements being worth five per cent each. These measures will be based on delivery of new systems  
and processes into two of our supply chain operations (five per cent payable on each element; a total of ten per cent) and

iii.  Specific project delivery within our programme for supply chain restructuring, specifically the transfer and operation of product 
platforms with three elements measured independently; one element being worth five per cent, one element being worth  
three per cent and one element being worth two per cent.

The annual bonus is based on performance against a range of financial and strategic performance measures. This range of metrics 
measures achievement of the Company’s key operational objectives. The Committee reviews the key performance indicators (KPIs) each 
year and varies them as appropriate to reflect the priorities for the business in the year ahead. Where appropriate a sliding scale of 
targets is set for each KPI to encourage continuous improvement, or sustained high performance. 

There will be an underpin to the sales and strategic objectives elements of the bonus whereby any payment under these elements may 
be scaled back (potentially to zero) at the discretion of the Committee, if the profit performance for the year is judged to be running 
significantly below that required for the achievement of the long-term strategy.

Bonus targets for the forthcoming year are considered to be commercially sensitive and so have not been disclosed. Retrospective 
disclosure of the targets and performance against them will be made in next year’s annual report on remuneration. 

PSP award 2018
PSP awards will be granted as follows:

Chief Executive

Executive Directors 

115% of base salary 

95% of base salary 

Performance conditions will be based on an equal split of two different financial measures, EPS and ROCE (for discrete parts of an 
award)*. EPS and ROCE are two of our eight strategic KPIs and together provide a rounded assessment of our overall profitability 
against stretching targets set in line with the strategic plan and business outlook over the performance period. For these awards the 
ROCE ranges have been increased to ensure that they remain appropriately stretching in light of our business strategy without 
encouraging undue risk taking. The EPS targets require the same level of growth as for last year’s award, albeit the base point from 
which the growth is measured is higher than last year.

For the 2018 awards the target ranges will be as follows:
 – The EPS performance condition will require average annual growth of EPS of 5 per cent to 11 per cent over three financial years 

measured from the 2017 financial year end.

 – The ROCE condition will require average annual ROCE over the three-year performance period (2018, 2019 and 2020) to be in the 

range 25 per cent to 29 per cent.

In both cases 25 per cent of an award will vest on achieving threshold performance and thereafter straight-line sliding scales will apply 
until stretch performance is achieved.

In order to improve alignment of interest between Executive Directors and shareholders, a holding period is attached to vested PSP 
awards granted in the policy period, requiring the vested shares to be held (net of tax and other deductions) for a further two years.

*   EPS and ROCE are measured excluding exceptional items.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

63

Directors’ ReportREMUNERATION COMMITTEE REPORT CONTINUED

How our remuneration policy will be implemented in 2018 – Non-Executive Directors 
In order to ensure that no Director is involved in deciding his/her own remuneration, the fees payable to Non-Executive Directors are 
set, after consultation with the Chairman, by a Committee of the Board consisting only of the Executive Directors. The fees payable  
to the Chairman are set by the Remuneration Committee.

These fees are reviewed and set annually in December and implemented from 1 January. The fees for Non-Executive Directors 
increased by 2.8 per cent on 1 January 2018 in line with the base award for our whole workforce in 2018. 

The Non-Executive Directors are paid an annual base fee which is currently £44,639 and additional responsibility fees of £6,637 for the 
role of Senior Independent Director (SID) or for chairing a Board Committee. Where the SID role is combined with the role of chairing  
a Committee then only one fee of £6,637 will be paid.

Details of the fees being paid to Non-Executive Directors in 2018 are set out below:  

Name

Ian Durant
Allison Kirkby
Helena Ganczakowski
Peter McPhillips
Sandra Turner

Position

Chairman
Chair of the Audit Committee
Non-Executive Director
Non-Executive Director
SID & Chair of the Remuneration Committee

Fee

£167,815 
£51,276
£44,639
£44,639
£51,276

How our remuneration policy was implemented in 2017 (audited)
Total remuneration payable for 2017 
The following table presents the remuneration payable for 2017 (showing the equivalent figures for 2016) for the Executive Directors.  

Roger Whiteside
2017
2016

Richard Hutton
2017
2016

Raymond Reynolds
20172
2016

Pension 
contribution 
(including salary 
in lieu)
£

Salary 
£

Taxable  
benefits 
£

Annual incentives 
(including profit 
share) 
£

Long-term 
incentives1 
£

Total  
remuneration 
£

534,163 
521,135 

120,186 
117,255 

12,441 
12,408 

429,467 
564,780 

580,395 
919,948 

1,676,652 
2,135,526 

305,145 
297,702 

104,012 
265,641 

41,067 
30,582 

15,043 
32,680 

16,203 
15,298 

176,642 
232,297 

257,870 
408,734 

796,927
984,613 

6,006 
14,833 

60,210 
207,280 

230,103 
364,721 

415,374 
885,155 

Notes: 
1 

 The 2017 long-term incentive vesting values are based on the forecast value of the awards due to vest on 26 March 2018. This value will be trued up in the 2018 report to 
reflect the actual level of vesting and share price at the vesting date. The 2016 long-term incentive value has been restated and reflects the actual value of the awards that 
vested in March 2017, following the estimated value last year. 

2  2017 remuneration until date of retirement from the Board on 19 May 2017.

Fees for Non-Executive Directors
The fees for Non-Executive Directors were as follows: 

Ian Durant
Allison Kirkby
Helena Ganczakowski
Peter McPhillips 
Sandra Turner

2017

2016

£163,244
£49,880
£43,424
£43,424
£49,880

£159,263
£48,663
£42,365
£42,365
£48,663

64

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Annual bonus 2017
The table below outlines the bonus payments to Executive Directors in respect of 2017. 

Measure

Strategic objective

Weighting

Entry

Target

Stretch

Actual

% 

All Executive Directors
Profit (£)

Profit before tax 
(excluding 
exceptional items  
and property profits)

To deliver profit 
target

50% £78.0m 

£80.0m 

£88.0m

£81.7m 

22.54% 

Company–managed 
like-for-like sales

To deliver target 
increase

20%

1.5% 

3.0% 

4.5%

3.7% 

12.53% 

£6.0m £10.0m 

– 

£9.7m

Achieved

9.25%

10.0%

Achieved

10.0%

Sales (%)

Strategic (£)

Strategic  
(3 elements)

Strategic  
(3 elements)

Cost savings 

Process and system 
change delivery* 

Supply chain 
reorganisation* 

Total weighting based on balanced scorecard

*  Project milestones.

Bonus achieved for 2017
Roger Whiteside
Richard Hutton
Raymond Reynolds1

Note: 
1  Reflects bonus earned during period served as Director during 2017. 

10%

10%

10%

100%

Criteria 

Process and system  
change delivery

Supply chain  
reorganisation

Forecast and replenishment roll-out

All company-managed shops by end of Q3 2017

Manufacturing pilot

Warehousing pilot

Increased capability

Delivered and operational by end of FY2017

Delivered and operational by end of FY2017

To enable opening of 130 shops

Transfer of production platform (Yum Yum) Delivered and operational by end of FY2017

Transfer of production platform (muffin)

Delivered and operational by end of FY2017

Any element of the bonus earned above 50 per cent of the maximum will be paid in shares for the Chief Executive and other Executive 
Directors listed above, which (after any sales to pay tax and other statutory deductions) must be held in the Employee Benefit Trust for 
two years after receipt.

The number of shares will be calculated by dividing 14.32 per cent of the net bonus by the closing market share value on the date  
of payment. 

Details of the shares awarded in 2017 for the 2016 bonus year are outlined below:

Director

Roger Whiteside
Richard Hutton
Raymond Reynolds

Number of shares awarded

11,701
3,008
2,684

Performance Share Plan award for performance over 2015 – 2017 
The PSP award granted in 2015 measured EPS performance by reference to the three financial years to 30 December 2017 and average 
annual ROCE over the three-year performance period 2015 to 2017. The performance targets that were set, together with the 
performance delivered, are set out in the table below. 

Metric

Condition

Threshold target

Stretch target

Actual

% vesting 

Earnings per share 
(50%)

Normalised EPS* growth of RPI + 1% p.a. 
to RPI + 7% p.a. over three financial years.

RPI +1%
(12.5% vesting)

ROCE (50%)

Average annual ROCE over the three-year 
performance period.

19.0% 
(12.5% vesting)

*  Normalised EPS is the Company’s reported earnings per share excluding exceptional items.

RPI +7%
(100% vesting)

21.5%
(100% vesting) 

RPI +12.86%

50% 

27.3%

50% 

  Total vesting

100%*

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

65

64.32%

As % of 
maximum 
64.32% 
 64.32% 
64.32% 

Payment of 
10% total 

5.0%

2.5%

2.5%

5.0%

2.5%

2.5%

Directors’ Report 
 
 
REMUNERATION COMMITTEE REPORT CONTINUED

These options will vest on 26 March 2018.

The table below details the impact on share price appreciation on the value of this PSP award.

Executive

Roger Whiteside

Richard Hutton

Raymond Reynolds 

Number of shares 
at grant

Value at  
grant 1

Vesting  

outcome

44,103

19,595

17,485

£456,466

£202,808

£180,970

100%

100%

100%

Number  
of shares  
to vest

44,103

19,595

17,485

Estimated  

value 2

Value attributable 
to share price 
growth

£580,395

£123,929

£257,870

£230,103

£55,062

£49,133

Notes: 
1  Based on a share price at grant of £10.350.
2  Based on a three-month average share price to 31 December 2017 of £13.16.

Performance Share Plan Awards granted during 2017 are as follows: 

Executive

Type of award

Basis of 
award granted

Share price at date 
of grant  

(19 May 2017)

Number of shares 
over which award 
was granted

Roger Whiteside

Richard Hutton

nil cost 
option

115% of salary

95% of salary

£10.72

£10.72

57,303

27,041

% of face value 
that would vest 
at threshold 
performance

25%

Face value 
of award 

£614,288

£289,879

Vesting determined by 
performance over

Three financial 
years to 
3 January 2020 

The target ranges for this award are as follows:

 – EPS average annual growth of 5 per cent to 11 per cent over three years from the 2016 financial year end.
 – Average annual ROCE over the three-year performance period (2017, 2018 and 2019) to be in the range 23 per cent to 27 per cent.

In both cases, 25 per cent of the award will vest on achieving threshold performance and thereafter straight-line sliding scales will 
apply until stretch performance is achieved. A holding period is attached to vested PSP awards requiring the vested shares to be 
held (net of tax) for a further two years.

Outstanding Share Awards
The following table sets out details of the PSP, executive and savings-related share options (all of which were granted at a £nil cost 
to the Executive Director concerned) held by, or granted to, each Executive Director during the year: 

Granted
number

Exercised
number

Lapsed
number

At 
30 December 
2017
number

Exercise 
price

Date of 
grant

Market 
price of 
each share 
at date of 
grant

Date from 
which 
exercisable

Expiry date

Scheme

Roger Whiteside

Richard Hutton

At 
1 January 
2017
number

90,191
44,103
42,560
– 
449
215
148
–

–
–
–
57,303
–
–
–
169

90,1911
– 
– 
– 
4492
– 
– 
– 

177,666

57,472

90,640 

40,072
19,595
18,910
–
449
215
148
–

–
–
–
27,041
–
–
–
169

40,0723
– 
– 
– 
4492
– 
– 
– 

79,389

27,210

40,521 

66

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

–

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

–

– 
44,103 
42,560 
57,303 
– 
215 
148 
169 

144,498 

– 
19,595 
18,910 
27,041 
– 
215 
148 
169 

66,078 

£4.9425 Mar 17 Mar 24
£nil Mar 14
£nil Mar 15 £10.350 Mar 18 Mar 25
£11.020 Mar 19 Mar 26
£nil Mar 16
£10.720 May 20 May 27
£nil May 17
Jun 17 Nov 17
Apr 14
Jun 18 Nov 18
Apr 15
Jun 19 Nov 19
Apr 16
Jun 20 Nov 20
Apr 17

£4.65
£8.18
£8.70
£8.07

£4.9425 Mar 17 Mar 24
£nil Mar 14
£nil Mar 15 £10.350 Mar 18 Mar 25
£11.020 Mar 19 Mar 26
£nil Mar 16
£10.720 May 20 May 27
£nil May 17
Jun 17 Nov 17
Apr 14
Jun 18 Nov 18
Apr 15
Jun 19 Nov 19
Apr 16
Jun 20 Nov 20
Apr 17

£4.65
£8.18
£8.70
£8.07

PSP
PSP
PSP
PSP
SAYE
SAYE
SAYE
SAYE

PSP
PSP
PSP
PSP
SAYE
SAYE
SAYE
SAYE

At 
1 January 
2017
number

Granted
number

Exercised
number

Lapsed
number

Raymond Reynolds 62,640
12,125
36,736
35,757
17,485
16,873
–
449
148
–

–
–
–
–
–
–
24,129
–
–
169

57,5554 
– 
– 
– 
– 
– 
– 
– 
– 
– 

182,213

24,298

57,555 

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
449
–
–

449

At 
30 December 
2017
number

5,0855
12,125 
36,736 
35,757 
17,485 
16,873 
24,129 
– 
148 
169 

148,507 

Exercise 
price

Date of 
grant

Market 
price of 
each share 
at date of 
grant

Date from 
which 
exercisable

Expiry date

Scheme

Apr 19
Apr 12
Apr 09
£3.56
£5.260
Apr 22
Apr 15
£nil
Apr 12
£4.735 Mar 16 Mar 23
£nil Mar 13
£4.9425 Mar 17 Mar 24
£nil Mar 14
£nil Mar 15 £10.350 Mar 18 Mar 25
£11.020 Mar 19 Mar 26
£nil Mar 16
£10.720 May 20 May 27
£nil May 17
Jun 17 Nov 17
Apr 14
Jun 19 Nov 19
Apr 16
Jun 20 Nov 20
Apr 17

£4.65
£8.70
£8.07

Exec
PSP
PSP
PSP
PSP
PSP
PSP
SAYE
SAYE
SAYE

Notes: 
1   The market value on the date of exercise was £10.200 and the resultant gain on exercise was £919,948.
2   The market value on the date of exercise was £10.910 and the resultant gain on exercise was £2,811.
3   The market value on the date of exercise was £10.900 and the resultant gain on exercise was £436,785.
4   The market value on the date of exercise was £11.15 and the resultant gain on exercise was £436,842.
5   Performance conditions have been achieved and the shares remained exercisable.

Options granted under the all-employee SAYE scheme are not subject to performance conditions.

The mid-market price of ordinary shares in the Company as at 30 December 2017 was £13.99. The highest and lowest mid-market 
prices of ordinary shares during the financial year were £13.99 and £9.645, respectively.

Legacy defined benefit pension scheme (Audited)
The following table sets out the change in each Director’s accrued pension in the Company’s defined benefit scheme during the 
year and his accrued benefits in the scheme at the year end: 

Executive Director

Date of birth

Richard Hutton

Raymond Reynolds

3/6/68

4/11/59

Date service 
commenced

1/1/98

1/12/86

Accrued annual 
pension entitlement 
as at 1 January 2017
£

Accrued annual 
pension entitlement 
as at 30 December 
2017
£

Increase in accrued 
pension entitlement 
for the year
£

Increase in accrued 
pension entitlement 
for the year net of 
inflation of 1.2%
£

Transfer value of 
increase in accrued 
pension entitlement 
for the year
£

18,522

69,535

18,522

69,535

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

– 

Notes:
1  The pension entitlement shown is that which would be paid annually on retirement based on service to the end of the year, but excluding any statutory increases 

which would be due after the year end.

2  The inflation rate of 3.2 per cent shown in the table above is that published by the Secretary of State for Social Security in accordance with Schedule 3 of the Pensions 

Schemes Act 1993.

Richard Hutton

Raymond Reynolds

Cash equivalent  
transfer value as at 
1 January 2017
£ 

386,456 

1,669,402 

Cash equivalent  
transfer value as at 
30 December 2017
£ 

327,015 

1,515,966

Increase in the  
cash equivalent  
transfer value since  

January 2017
£

– 

– 

Note:
Cash equivalent transfer values have been calculated in accordance with Actuaries Guidance Note GN11 and the increase is stated net of contributions made by the 
Director. The transfer values disclosed above do not represent a sum paid or payable to the individual Director. Instead they represent a potential liability of the 
pension scheme.

The main features of the defined benefit scheme are:
 – Pension at normal retirement age of 1/60th of member’s final pensionable salary for each complete year and a proportionate 

amount for each additional complete month of service from the date of joining the scheme until 5 April 2008 when the scheme 
was closed to future accrual; 

 – choice of giving up part of the pension in exchange for a tax free cash sum subject to a limit of 25 per cent of the total value  

of the member’s benefits under the scheme;

 – pension payable in the event of ill health;
 – spouse’s pension on death; and
 – normal retirement at age 65.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

67

Directors’ ReportREMUNERATION COMMITTEE REPORT CONTINUED

Chief Executive pay compared to performance 
The graph below shows a comparison of the total shareholder return for the Company’s shares for each of the last nine financial 
years against the total shareholder return for the companies comprised in the FTSE 250 Index (excluding Investment Trusts) and  
the FTSE 350 (excluding Investment Trusts).

These indices were chosen for this comparison because they include companies of broadly similar size to the Company. 

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

D

D

D

D

D

D

D

D

D

D

e

c
-
0

e

c
-
0

e

c
-
1

e

c
-
1

e

c
-
1

e

c
-
1

e

c
-
1

e

c
-
1

e

c
-
1

e

c
-
1

8

9

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

FTSE 350 
(excluding investment trusts)

FTSE 250 
(excluding investment trusts)

Greggs

Remuneration outcomes for Chief Executive over last eight years 
The table below shows the total remuneration figure for the Chief Executive over the same eight-year period. The total remuneration 
figure includes the annual bonus, pension and PSP/option awards which vested based on performance in those years. 

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

Total remuneration

£767,397

£707,245

£635,030

£1,011,381 £1,238,248 £2,462,193 £2,135,526

1,676,652 

Bonus (% of max potential)

56.6%

38.6%

PSP/options (% max potential)

n/a

0%

18%

78.3%

20%*

n/a 

100%

n/a

93.7%

100%

86.7%

100%

64.32%

100%

*  This figure includes only the performance related bonus that was achieved in 2013 and not the bonus share award given to the Chief Executive. 

Directors’ shareholding and share interests (Audited)
Details of the shareholdings of each Executive Director as of 30 December 2017 and their interests in shares are detailed below with the 
percentage holding calculated using the share price at that date:

Director

Roger Whiteside
Richard Hutton
Raymond Reynolds
Ian Durant
Allison Kirkby
Helena Ganczakowski
Peter McPhillips
Sandra Turner

Beneficially 
owned at 
30 December 
2017

195,472
70,844
63,168
11,700
1,600
1,100
1,000
1,000

Beneficially 
owned at 
1 January 2017

Outstanding  
PSP awards

Outstanding 
deferred bonus 
awards

Outstanding 
option awards

135,563
78,094
64,484
11,700
1,600
1,072
1,000
1,000

143,966
65,546
143,105
–
–
–
–
–

–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–

–
–
5,085
–
–
–
–
–

% shareholding 
guideline 
achieved at 
30 December 
2017

512%
325%
324%
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a

There have been no changes since 30 December 2017 in the Directors’ interests noted above. 

Exit payments or payments to past Directors (Audited)
There were no payments to past Directors in the 52 weeks ended 30 December 2017. No payments for compensation or loss of office 
were paid to, or receivable by, any Director. This includes Raymond Reynolds, who did not receive any payments for loss of office 
following his departure from the Board on 19 May 2017. He remains employed by Greggs in a different role.

68

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

External directorships
Executive Directors may take up one Non-Executive Directorship outside of the Company subject to the Board’s approval and provided 
that such an appointment is not likely to lead to a conflict of interest. It is recognised that this can support a Director’s development and 
enhance experience as well as benefit the Company. Executive Directors will be entitled to retain the fees of such an appointment. 

Roger Whiteside was appointed as Non-Executive Director of Card Factory plc, effective from 4 December 2017. He retains the fees 
that he earns.

Relative importance of spend on pay 
The Committee is aware of the importance of pay across the business and the table below shows the expenditure and percentage 
change in the overall spend on all colleague costs compared to other key financial indicators.

All colleague costs

Dividends

Retained profit (excluding exceptional items)

Corporation tax paid

2017 
£m

357.3

32.2

64.9

17.6

2016 
£m

336.9

30.9

62.3

16.2

% increase/
(decrease) 

6.1% 

4.2%

4.2% 

8.9% 

Percentage change in remuneration of Director undertaking role of Chief Executive
The table below sets out the percentage change in remuneration for the Chief Executive compared to the wider workforce. For this 
purpose the wider workforce is defined as all full-time head office management colleagues as they too are entitled to receive benefits 
and annual bonus awards. 

Chief Executive (£)
– salary
– benefits
– performance pay

Average per colleague (£)
– salary
– benefits*
– performance pay

% change from 
2016 to 2017

2.5%
0.3%
(32%)

4.1%
15%
(6.1%)

*  The average employee benefits figure is based on tax year 2015/16 for 2016 and tax year 2016/17 for 2016.

At the AGM of the Company to be held on 9 May 2018, an ordinary resolution will be proposed to approve the annual report  
on remuneration.

This report was approved by the Board on 27 February 2018.

Signed on behalf of the Board

Sandra Turner
Chair of the Remuneration Committee
27 February 2018

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

69

Directors’ ReportSTATEMENT OF DIRECTORS’ RESPONSIBILITIES IN RESPECT  
OF THE ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS

The Directors are responsible for preparing the annual report and the Group and Parent Company accounts in accordance with 
applicable law and regulations. 

Company law requires the Directors to prepare Group and Parent Company accounts for each financial year. Under that law they are 
required to prepare the Group accounts in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European 
Union (IFRSs as adopted by the EU) and applicable law and have elected to prepare the Parent Company accounts on the same basis. 

Under company law the Directors must not approve the accounts unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state 
of affairs of the Group and Parent Company and of their profit or loss for that period. In preparing each of the Group and Parent 
Company accounts, the Directors are required to: 
 – select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; 
 – make judgements and estimates that are reasonable, relevant and reliable; 
 – state whether they have been prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the EU; 
 – assess the Group and Parent Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going 

concern; and 

 – use the going concern basis of accounting unless they either intend to liquidate the Group or the Parent Company or to cease 

operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so. 

The Directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the Parent Company’s 
transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Parent Company and enable them to ensure 
that its accounts comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are responsible for such internal control as they determine is necessary  
to enable the preparation of accounts that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and have general 
responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the Group and to prevent and detect 
fraud and other irregularities. 

Under applicable law and regulations, the Directors are also responsible for preparing a strategic report, Directors’ report, Directors’ 
remuneration report and corporate governance statement that complies with that law and those regulations. 

The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the Company’s 
website. Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination of accounts may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions. 

Responsibility statement of the Directors in respect of the annual accounts 
We confirm that to the best of our knowledge: 
 – the accounts, prepared in accordance with the applicable set of accounting standards, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, 

financial position and profit or loss of the Company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole; and 

 – the strategic report and Directors’ report include a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position 
of the issuer and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole, together with a description of the principal risks 
and uncertainties that they face. 

We consider the annual report and accounts, taken as a whole, is fair, balanced and understandable and provides the information 
necessary for shareholders to assess the Group’s position and performance, business model and strategy. 

Roger Whiteside   
Chief Executive 
27 February 2018

Richard Hutton
Finance Director

70

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

 
INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT
to the members of Greggs plc

Opinions and conclusions arising from our audit
1. Our opinion is unmodified

We have audited the accounts of Greggs plc (the Company) for the 52 weeks ended 30 December 2017 which comprise the 
consolidated income statement, consolidated statement of comprehensive income, balance sheets, statements of changes in 
equity, statements of cashflows and the related notes, including the accounting policies. 

In our opinion: 
 – the accounts give a true and fair view of the state of the Group’s and of the Parent Company’s affairs as at 30 December 2017 

and of the Group’s profit for the period then ended; 

 – the Group accounts have been properly prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by 

the European Union (IFRSs as adopted by the EU); 

 – the Parent Company accounts have been properly prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the EU and as applied in 

accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2006; and 

 – the accounts have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and, as regards the Group 

accounts, Article 4 of the IAS Regulation.

Basis for opinion 
We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (‘ISAs (UK)’) and applicable law. Our 
responsibilities are described below. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is a sufficient and appropriate basis for 
our opinion. Our audit opinion is consistent with our report to the Audit Committee. 

We were appointed as auditor by the Company before 1984. The period of total uninterrupted engagement is for more than the 34 
financial years ended 30 December 2017. We have fulfilled our ethical responsibilities under, and we remain independent of the 
Group in accordance with, UK ethical requirements including the FRC Ethical Standard as applied to listed public interest entities. 
No non-audit services prohibited by that standard were provided.

Overview
Materiality: 
Group accounts as a whole

Risks of material misstatement (Group and Parent)

£4m (2016: £3.9m)
5% (2016: 5%) of normalised PBT

vs 2016

New: Event-driven

Recoverability of property, plant and equipment

Recurring risks

Dilapidation provisions

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

71

AccountsINDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT
to the members of Greggs plc continued

2. Key audit matters: our assessment of risks of material misstatement
Key audit matters are those matters that, in our professional judgment, were of most significance in the audit of the accounts and 
include the most significant assessed risks of material misstatement (whether or not due to fraud) identified by us, including those 
which had the greatest effect on: the overall audit strategy; the allocation of resources in the audit; and directing the efforts of the 
engagement team. We summarise below the key audit matters, in decreasing order of audit significance, in arriving at our audit 
opinion above, together with our key audit procedures to address those matters and, as required for public interest entities, our 
results from those procedures. These matters were addressed, and our results are based on procedures undertaken, in the context 
of, and solely for the purpose of, our audit of the accounts as a whole, and in forming our opinion thereon, and consequently are 
incidental to that opinion, and we do not provide a separate opinion on these matters. 

Recoverability of 
property, plant  
and equipment
(Group and Parent 
Company) 
(carrying amount  
of property, plant  
and equipment: 
£319.2m; 2016: 
£307.4m

Refer to page 50 
(Audit Committee 
report), pages 
82-83 (accounting 
policy) and pages  
93-94 (financial  
disclosures)

The risk

Our response

In 2016 the Group announced a large-scale 
investment programme in manufacturing and 
distribution operations. The next phase of the 
supply chain investment programme, including  
the creation of centres of excellence, was  
announced in early 2017. The consolidation of 
certain production processes may reduce the  
useful economic life and recoverable amount of 
certain assets. Where assets are considered 
recoverable but will no longer be used once the 
programme progresses this may result in the need 
for accelerated depreciation. Where the assets are 
no longer considered recoverable an impairment 
should be recognised.

Subjective estimate
Identifying the affected assets requires fixed assets 
information which reflects the current location and 
use of supply chain assets. There is a risk that all 
relevant assets may not be appropriately captured 
or that assets may be provided against which 
continue to be used elsewhere in the Group. 

Determining the period over which to accelerate  
the depreciation of assets depends on when the 
assets are expected to be used by the Group.  
This is a judgemental assessment of future  
activities and there is a risk that assets may be 
depreciated over the incorrect period.

Our procedures included: 
 – Personnel interviews: We obtained a detailed 

understanding of the progress of this phase of the 
programme and the forecast business and financial 
impacts as at the period end; 

 – Methodology choice: We assessed the Group’s 

assumptions around useful economic lives of assets 
with reference to detailed plans for the programme; 
 – Site visits: We visited a sample of affected supply sites 
to test that the data used in the Group’s assessment 
reflected the pattern of use and location of assets.  
As part of these visits we independently identified 
affected assets and compared these with those 
identified by the Group for impairment or accelerated 
depreciation; 

 – Test of detail: We critically assessed whether all 

relevant assets had been considered, inspected the 
fixed asset register for assets which may become 
obsolete and compared these with those assets already 
provided against; 

 – Assessing application: We challenged the classification 
of items as exceptional charges for the period and 
tested that items presented as exceptional were 
incurred as a result of the programme with reference to 
internal plans and communications; and

 – Assessing transparency: We considered the adequacy 
and accuracy of the related disclosures in the accounts 
and compliance of the annual report with the rules for 
alternative performance measures. 

Our results 
We found the Group’s assessment of the property,  
plant and equipment balance to be acceptable  
(2016: acceptable).

72

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

The risk

Our response

Retail property 
provisions
(Group and Parent 
Company) 
(dilapidations 
provisions £3.0 
million; 2016: £3.2 
million)

Refer to pages 50-51 
(Audit Committee 
Report), pages 81 
and 85 (accounting 
policy) and page  
103 (financial  
disclosures)

The Group leases the majority of its shops and has 
circa 1,600 shop leases at the end of the period. 

Subjective estimate
For the majority of shop leases the Group has 
obligations to restore shops to a certain condition  
at the end of the lease and provisions may be 
required for the costs of doing so. Determining 
provisions involves estimation of the costs 
anticipated to make good any alterations to 
properties and consideration of obligations  
present in lease agreements. Both of these  
factors can vary significantly between shops and, 
whilst the majority of leases contain dilapidation 
clauses, the Group does not always incur costs  
as a consequence.

We continue to perform procedures over onerous 
lease provisions. However, following the Group’s  
exit from a number of leases, we have not assessed 
the onerous lease aspect of the provision as one of 
the most significant risks in our current period audit 
and, therefore, it is not separately identified in  
our report. 

Our procedures included: 
 – Historical comparisons: We critically assessed the 
methodology applied to identify properties which 
required dilapidation provisions and the 
reasonableness of estimated costs in the context of 
Greggs’ historic experience; 

 – Test of detail: We inspected a sample of the Group’s 

lease agreements to compare the relevant clauses with 
the Group’s approach to provisioning;

 – Comparisons: We tested whether dilapidation 

obligations had been provided for by selecting a 
sample, concentrating on known and planned closures 
or resites of shops; 

 – Our sector experience: We considered specific issues 
on certain Group properties, such as the shops which 
previously had in-store bakeries, and critically assessed 
the impact of these on the likely level of dilapidation 
costs; and

 – Assessing transparency: We also considered the 

adequacy of the Group’s disclosures about the degree 
of estimation involved in arriving at the provisions.

Our results 
We found the Group’s estimated dilapidations provisions 
to be acceptable (2016: acceptable).

We continue to perform procedures over provisions in respect of restructuring costs. However, as the Group’s supply site 
investment programme has progressed into the next phase this risk has reduced. We have not assessed this as one of the most 
significant risks in our current period audit and, therefore, it is not separately identified in our report. 

3. Our application of materiality and an overview of the scope of our audit 
Materiality for the accounts as a whole was set at £4.0 million (2016: £3.9 million), determined with reference to a benchmark of Group 
profit before tax normalised to exclude exceptional items (as disclosed in Note 4 of the accounts) of which it represents 5 per cent  
(2016: 5 per cent). 

Materiality for the Parent Company accounts as a whole was set at £4.0 million (2016: £3.9 million) determined with reference to a 
benchmark of Company profit before tax normalised to exclude exceptional items of which it represents 5 per cent (2016: 5 per cent).

We agreed to report to the Audit Committee any corrected or uncorrected misstatements exceeding £200,000 (2016: £195,000), in 
addition to other identified misstatements that warranted reporting on qualitative grounds.

The Group audit team performed the audit of the Group as if it was a single aggregated set of financial information which covered 100 
per cent (2016: 100 per cent) of total Group revenue, Group profit before tax and total Group assets. The audit was performed using the 
materiality levels set out above. The Group team performed procedures on the items excluded from normalised Group profit before tax.

   Profit before tax 

   Group materiality

Profit before tax  
excluding exceptional items 
£81.8m (2016: £80.3m)

Materiality
£4.0m (2016: £3.9m)

£4.0m
Whole accounts materiality
(2016: £3.9m)

The Group audit team performed the audit of the Group  
as if it was a single aggregated set of financial information. 

£200k
Misstatements reported to the Audit Committee
(2016: £195k)

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

73

AccountsINDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT
to the members of Greggs plc only continued

4. We have nothing to report on going concern 
We are required to report to you if: 

 – we have anything material to add or draw attention to in relation to the Directors’ statement included in the accounts (page 81) 
on the use of the going concern basis of accounting with no material uncertainties that may cast significant doubt over the 
Group and Company’s use of that basis for a period of at least 12 months from the date of approval of the accounts; or 

 – the related statement under the Listing Rules set out on page 45 is materially inconsistent with our audit knowledge.

We have nothing to report in these respects. 

5. We have nothing to report on the other information in the annual report 
The Directors are responsible for the other information presented in the Annual Report together with the accounts. Our opinion  
on the accounts does not cover the other information and, accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion or, except as explicitly 
stated below, any form of assurance conclusion thereon. 

Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether, based on our accounts audit work, the 
information therein is materially misstated or inconsistent with the accounts or our audit knowledge. Based solely on that work  
we have not identified material misstatements in the other information.

Strategic report and Directors’ report 
Based solely on our work on the other information: 
We have not identified material misstatements in the strategic report and the Directors’ report; 

 – in our opinion the information given in those reports for the financial period is consistent with the accounts; and 
 – in our opinion those reports have been prepared in accordance with the Companies Act 2006.

Directors’ remuneration report 
In our opinion the part of the Directors’ remuneration report to be audited has been properly prepared in accordance with the 
Companies Act 2006. 

Disclosures of principal risks and longer-term viability 
Based on the knowledge we acquired during our accounts audit, we have nothing material to add or draw attention to in relation to: 

 – the Directors’ confirmation within the viability statement on pages 34-35 that they have carried out a robust assessment of the 

principal risks facing the Group, including those that would threaten its business model, future performance, solvency 
and liquidity;

 – the principal risks and Uncertainties disclosures describing these risks and explaining how they are being managed and 

mitigated; and 

 – the Directors’ explanation in the viability statement of how they have assessed the prospects of the Group, over what period 
they have done so and why they considered that period to be appropriate, and their statement as to whether they have a 
reasonable expectation that the Group will be able to continue in operation and meet its liabilities as they fall due over the 
period of their assessment, including any related disclosures drawing attention to any necessary qualifications or assumptions. 

Under the Listing Rules we are required to review the viability statement. We have nothing to report in this respect. 

Corporate governance disclosures 
We are required to report to you if: 

 – we have identified material inconsistencies between the knowledge we acquired during our accounts audit and the Directors’ 
statement that they consider that the annual report and accounts taken as a whole is fair, balanced and understandable and 
provides the information necessary for shareholders to assess the Group’s position and performance, business model and 
strategy; or 

 – the section of the annual report describing the work of the Audit Committee does not appropriately address matters 

communicated by us to the Audit Committee. 

We are required to report to you if the Corporate Governance Statement does not properly disclose a departure from the 11 
provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code specified by the Listing Rules for our review. 

We have nothing to report in these respects. 

74

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

 
 
6. We have nothing to report on the other matters on which we are required to report by exception 
Under the Companies Act 2006, we are required to report to you if, in our opinion:  

 – adequate accounting records have not been kept by the Parent Company, or returns adequate for our audit have not been 

received from branches not visited by us; or 

 – the Parent Company accounts and the part of the Directors’ remuneration report to be audited are not in agreement with the 

accounting records and returns; or 

 – certain disclosures of Directors’ remuneration specified by law are not made; or 
 – we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

We have nothing to report in these respects.

7. Respective responsibilities 
Directors’ responsibilities
As explained more fully in their statement set out on page 70, the Directors are responsible for: the preparation of the accounts including 
being satisfied that they give a true and fair view; such internal control as they determine is necessary to enable the preparation of accounts 
that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error; assessing the Group and Parent Company’s ability to continue as a 
going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern; and using the going concern basis of accounting unless they 
either intend to liquidate the Group or the Parent Company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Auditor’s responsibilities 
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the accounts as a whole are free from material misstatement, 
whether due to fraud, other irregularities, or error, and to issue our opinion in an auditor’s report. Reasonable assurance is a high 
level of assurance, but does not guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material 
misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud, other irregularities or error and are considered material if, 
individually or in aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis  
of the accounts. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud or other irregularities is higher than for one 
resulting from error, as they may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal 
control and may involve any area of law and regulation not just those directly affecting the accounts.

A fuller description of our responsibilities is provided on the FRC’s website at www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. 

Irregularities – ability to detect
Our audit aimed to detect non-compliance with relevant laws and regulations (irregularities) that could have a material effect on the 
accounts. In planning and performing our audit, we considered the impact of laws and regulations in the specific areas of Food 
Safety and Health and Safety, given the industry in which the Group operates. We identified these areas through discussion with 
the Directors and other management (as required by auditing standards), and from our sector experience. In addition we had 
regard to laws and regulations in core areas such as financial reporting and company and taxation legislation.

We considered the extent of compliance with those laws and regulations that directly affect the accounts, being Food Safety and 
Health and Safety, as part of our procedures on the related accounts items. For the remaining laws and regulations, we made 
enquiries of Directors and other management (as required by auditing standards).

We communicated identified laws and regulations throughout our team and remained alert to any indications of non-compliance 
throughout the audit.

As with any audit, there remained a higher risk of non-detection of irregularities, as these may involve collusion, forgery, intentional 
omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal controls. 

8. The purpose of our audit work and to whom we owe our responsibilities 
This report is made solely to the Company’s members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 
2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Company’s members those matters we are required to 
state to them in an auditor’s report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume 
responsibility to anyone other than the Company and the Company’s members, as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for 
the opinions we have formed.

Mick Thompson
(Senior Statutory Auditor) 
For and on behalf of KPMG LLP, Statutory Auditor
Chartered Accountants
Quayside House, 110 Quayside
Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 3DX
27 February 2018

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

75

AccountsCONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT
for the 52 weeks ended 30 December 2017 (2016: 52 weeks ended 31 December 2016)

Revenue
Cost of sales

Gross profit
Distribution and selling costs
Administrative expenses

Operating profit
Finance expense

Profit before tax
Income tax

2017
Excluding 
exceptional 
items
£’000

2017
Exceptional 
items
(see Note 4)
£’000

Note

2016
Excluding 
exceptional 
items
£’000

2016
Exceptional 
items
(see Note 4)
£’000

2017
Total
£’000

2016
Total
£’000

1 960,005
(348,098)

– 960,005
(358,158)

(10,060)

611,907
(476,215)
(53,517)

(10,060) 601,847
198 (476,017)
(53,517)

–

82,175
(368)

81,807
(16,923)

(9,862)
–

(9,862)
1,884

72,313
(368)

71,945
(15,039)

6

3-6

8

894,195
(324,289)

569,906
(441,246)
(48,315)

80,345
(26)

80,319
(18,064)

–
(4,367)

894,195
(328,656)

(4,367) 565,539
(441,840)
(48,531)

(594)
(216)

(5,177)
–

(5,177)
915

75,168
(26)

75,142
(17,149)

Profit for the financial year attributable to equity 

holders of the Parent

Basic earnings per share
Diluted earnings per share

64,884

(7,978)

56,906

62,255

(4,262)

57,993

9

9

64.5p
63.5p

(7.9p)
(7.8p)

56.6p
55.7p

62.0p
60.8p

(4.2p)
(4.1p)

57.8p
56.7p

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
for the 52 weeks ended 30 December 2017 (2016: 52 weeks ended 31 December 2016)

Profit for the financial year
Other comprehensive income
Items that will not be recycled to profit and loss:
Re-measurements on defined benefit pension plans
Tax on re-measurements on defined benefit pension plans

Other comprehensive income for the financial year, net of income tax

Total comprehensive income for the financial year

Note

2017
£’000

2016
£’000

56,906

57,993

20

8

15,962
(2,714)

13,248

70,154

(18,791)
3,194

(15,597)

42,396

76

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

BALANCE SHEETS
at 30 December 2017 (2016: 31 December 2016)

ASSETS
Non-current assets
Intangible assets
Property, plant and equipment
Investments
Deferred tax asset

Current assets
Inventories
Trade and other receivables
Cash and cash equivalents

Total assets

LIABILITIES
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables
Current tax liability
Provisions

Non-current liabilities
Other payables
Defined benefit pension liability
Long-term provisions

Total liabilities

Net assets

EQUITY
Capital and reserves
Issued capital
Share premium account
Capital redemption reserve
Retained earnings

Total equity attributable to equity holders of the Parent

Balance sheets

Note

Group

2017
£’000

Parent Company

2016
£’000

2017
£’000

2016
£’000

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

21

19

20

21

22

22

14,737
319,195
–
782

334,714

18,688
33,365
54,503

106,556

441,270

(107,126)
(8,714)
(12,090)

(127,930)

(5,127)
(7,506)
(1,344)

(13,977)

(141,907)

299,363

2,023
13,533
416
283,391

299,363

14,254
307,363
–
1,750

323,367

15,934
30,713
45,960

92,607

415,974

(104,924)
(10,426)
(6,088)

(121,438)

(5,599)
(22,851)
(1,426)

(29,876)

(151,314)

264,660

2,023
13,533
416
248,688

264,660

14,737
319,788
4,987
1,231

340,743

18,688
33,365
54,503

106,556

447,299

(114,933)
(8,714)
(12,090)

(135,737)

(5,127)
(7,506)
(1,344)

(13,977)

(149,714)

297,585

2,023
13,533
416
281,613

297,585

14,254
307,956
4,987
2,199

329,396

15,934
30,713
45,960

92,607

422,003

(112,731)
(10,426)
(6,088)

(129,245)

(5,599)
(22,851)
(1,426)

(29,876)

(159,121)

262,882

2,023
13,533
416
246,910

262,882

The accounts on pages 76 to 105 were approved by the Board of Directors on 27 February 2018 and were signed on its behalf by:

Roger Whiteside
Richard Hutton

Company Registered Number 502851

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

77

AccountsPage Title at start:Content Section at start:Statements of changes in equity

STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
for the 52 weeks ended 30 December 2017 (2016: 52 weeks ended 31 December 2016)

Group
52 weeks ended 31 December 2016

Balance at 3 January 2016
Total comprehensive income for the year
Profit for the financial year
Other comprehensive income

Total comprehensive income for the year
Transactions with owners, recorded directly in equity
Sale of own shares
Purchase of own shares
Share-based payment transactions
Dividends to equity holders
Tax items taken directly to reserves

Total transactions with owners

Balance at 31 December 2016

52 weeks ended 30 December 2017

Balance at 1 January 2017
Total comprehensive income for the year
Profit for the financial year
Other comprehensive income

Total comprehensive income for the year
Transactions with owners, recorded directly in equity
Sale of own shares
Purchase of own shares
Share-based payment transactions
Dividends to equity holders
Tax items taken directly to reserves

Total transactions with owners

Balance at 30 December 2017

Attributable to equity holders of the Company

Issued 
capital
£’000

Share 
premium
£’000

Capital 
redemption 
reserve
£’000

Retained 
earnings
£’000

Total
£’000

Note

2,023

13,533

416

248,697

264,669

–
–

–

–
–
–
–
–

–

–
–

–

–
–
–
–
–

–

–
–

–

–
–
–
–
–

–

57,993
(15,597)

57,993
(15,597)

42,396

42,396

4,063
(12,398)
1,994
(30,936)
(5,128)

4,063
(12,398)
1,994
(30,936)
(5,128)

(42,405)

(42,405)

2,023

13,533

416

248,688

264,660

20

22

8

Attributable to equity holders of the Company

Issued 
capital
£’000

Share 
premium
£’000

Capital 
redemption 
reserve
£’000

Retained 
earnings
£’000

Total
£’000

Note

2,023

13,533

416 248,688 264,660

–
–

–

–
–
–
–
–

–

–
–

–

–
–
–
–
–

–

–
–

–

–
–
–
–
–

–

56,906
13,248

56,906
13,248

70,154

70,154

5,358
(11,352)
1,835
(32,187)
895

5,358
(11,352)
1,835
(32,187)
895

(35,451)

(35,451)

2,023

13,533

416 283,391 299,363

20

22

8

78

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Page Title at start:Content Section at start:STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
for the 52 weeks ended 30 December 2017 (2016: 52 weeks ended 31 December 2016) continued

Parent Company
52 weeks ended 31 December 2016

Balance at 3 January 2016
Total comprehensive income for the year
Profit for the financial year
Other comprehensive income

Total comprehensive income for the year
Transactions with owners, recorded directly in equity
Sale of own shares
Purchase of own shares
Share-based payment transactions
Dividends to equity holders
Tax items taken directly to reserves

Total transactions with owners

Balance at 31 December 2016

52 weeks ended 30 December 2017

Balance at 1 January 2017
Total comprehensive income for the year
Profit for the financial year
Other comprehensive income

Total comprehensive income for the year
Transactions with owners, recorded directly in equity
Sale of own shares
Purchase of own shares
Share-based payment transactions
Dividends to equity holders
Tax items taken directly to reserves

Total transactions with owners

Balance at 30 December 2017

Attributable to equity holders of the Company

Issued
capital
£’000

Share
premium
£’000

Note

Capital
redemption
reserve
£’000

Retained 
earnings
£’000

Total
£’000

2,023

13,533

416

246,945

262,917

7

20

22

8

–
–

–

–
–
–
–
–

–

–
–

–

–
–
–
–
–

–

–
–

–

–
–
–
–
–

–

57,967
(15,597)

57,967
(15,597)

42,370

42,370

4,063
(12,398)
1,994
(30,936)
(5,128)

4,063
(12,398)
1,994
(30,936)
(5,128)

(42,405)

(42,405)

2,023

13,533

416

246,910

262,882

Attributable to equity holders of the Company

Issued
capital
£’000

Share
premium
£’000

Capital 
redemption 
reserve
£’000

Retained 
earnings
£’000

Total
£’000

Note

2,023

13,533

416

246,910 262,882

7

20

22

8

–
–

–

–
–
–
–
–

–

–
–

–

–
–
–
–
–

–

–
–

–

–
–
–
–
–

–

56,906
13,248

56,906
13,248

70,154

70,154

5,358
(11,352)
1,835
(32,187)
895

5,358
(11,352)
1,835
(32,187)
895

(35,451)

(35,451)

2,023

13,533

416

281,613

297,585

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

79

AccountsPage Title at start:Content Section at start:Statements of cashflows

STATEMENTS OF CASHFLOWS
for the 52 weeks ended 30 December 2017 (2016: 52 weeks ended 31 December 2016)

Operating activities
Cash generated from operations (see below)
Income tax paid

Net cash inflow from operating activities

Investing activities
Acquisition of property, plant and equipment
Acquisition of intangible assets
Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment
Interest received

Net cash outflow from investing activities

Financing activities
Sale of own shares
Purchase of own shares
Dividends paid

Net cash outflow from financing activities

Net increase in cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at the start of the year

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year

Cash flow statement – cash generated from operations

Profit for the financial year
Amortisation
Depreciation
(Reversal of impairment)/impairment
Loss on sale of property, plant and equipment
Release of government grants
Share-based payment expenses
Finance expense
Income tax expense
Increase in inventories
Increase in receivables
Increase in payables
Increase in provisions

Cash from operating activities

Group

Parent Company

Note

2017
£’000

2016
£’000

2017
£’000

2016
£’000

134,470
(17,602)

133,773
(16,157)

134,470
(17,602)

133,773
(16,157)

116,868

117,616

116,868

117,616

(68,646)
(3,918)
2,171
249

(74,016)
(6,106)
4,698
124

(68,646)
(3,918)
2,171
249

(74,016)
(6,106)
4,698
124

(70,144)

(75,300)

(70,144)

(75,300)

5,358
(11,352)
(32,187)

(38,181)

8,543
45,960

54,503

4,063
(12,398)
(30,936)

(39,271)

3,045
42,915

45,960

5,358
(11,352)
(32,187)

(38,181)

8,543
45,960

54,503

4,063
(12,398)
(30,936)

(39,271)

3,045
42,915

45,960

2017
 £’000

56,906
3,435
50,044
(415)
2,719
(472)
1,835
368
15,039
(2,754)
(2,652)
4,497
5,920

2016
 £’000

57,993
2,100
43,453
488
2,476
(472)
1,994
26
17,149
(490)
(3,066)
11,845
277

2017
£’000

56,906
3,435
50,044
(415)
2,719
(472)
1,835
368
15,039
(2,754)
(2,652)
4,497
5,920

2016
£’000

57,967
2,100
43,453
488
2,476
(472)
1,994
26
17,175
(490)
(3,066)
11,845
277

134,470

133,773

134,470

133,773

6

22

16

16

10

11

11

20

6

8

80

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Page Title at start:Content Section at start:Notes to the consolidated accounts

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS

Significant accounting policies
Greggs plc (‘the Company’) is a company incorporated and domiciled in the UK. The Group accounts consolidate those of the 
Company and its subsidiaries (together referred to as ‘the Group’). The results of the associate are not consolidated on the grounds 
of materiality. The Parent Company accounts present information about the Company as a separate entity and not about its Group.

The accounts were authorised for issue by the Directors on 27 February 2018.

(a)  Statement of compliance
Both the Parent Company accounts and the Group accounts have been prepared and approved by the Directors in accordance with 
International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the EU (‘adopted IFRSs’), IFRIC interpretations and the Companies Act 
2006 applicable to companies reporting under IFRS. On publishing the Parent Company accounts here together with the Group 
accounts, the Company is taking advantage of the exemption in s408 of the Companies Act 2006 not to present its individual 
income statement and related notes that form a part of these approved accounts.

(b)  Basis of preparation
The accounts are presented in pounds sterling, rounded to the nearest thousand, and are prepared on the historical cost basis 
except the defined benefit pension asset/liability, which is recognised as plan assets less the present value of the defined 
benefit obligation.

The Group’s business activities, together with the factors likely to affect its future development, performance and position are set 
out in the Directors’ report and strategic report on pages 03 to 70. The financial position of the Group, its cash flows and liquidity 
position are described in the financial review on pages 24 to 27. In addition, Note 2 to the accounts includes: the Group’s 
objectives, policies and processes for managing its capital; its financial risk management objectives; details of its financial 
instruments and hedging activities; and its exposures to credit risk and liquidity risk.

The Group chose not to restate business combinations prior to the IFRS transition date (1 January 2004), as no significant 
acquisitions had taken place during the previous ten years. The Group’s policy up to and including 1997 was to eliminate goodwill 
arising upon acquisitions against reserves. Under IFRS 1 and IFRS 3, such goodwill remains eliminated against reserves.

The accounting policies set out below have been applied consistently throughout the Group and to all years presented in these 
consolidated accounts and are unchanged from previous years. There are no accounting standards, amendments or interpretations 
that have been adopted by the Group since 1 January 2017.

Going concern
Directors have reviewed the Company’s operational and investment plans for the next 12 months along with the principal risks and 
uncertainties that could affect these plans or threaten its liquidity. The key factors likely to affect future performance and the 
Company’s exposure to risks are set out on pages 33 to 37 of the strategic report. In addition the financial review on pages 24 to 27 
sets out the Company’s net cash position and continued strong cash generation.

After making enquiries, the Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Company and the Group have adequate resources to 
continue in operational existence for the next 12 months. Accordingly, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing 
the annual report and accounts.

Key estimates and judgements
The preparation of financial information in conformity with adopted IFRSs requires management to make judgements, estimates 
and assumptions that affect the application of policies and reported amounts of assets and liabilities, income and expenses. The 
estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the 
year in which the estimate is revised if the revision affects only that year, or in the year of revision and future years if the revision 
affects both current and future years.

Treatment of items as exceptional
The accounts for both the current and the prior year include items which are material and unusual in nature and which are 
considered to be of such significance that they require separate disclosure on the face of the income statement. These items relate 
to the decision to invest in and reshape the Company’s supply chain in order to support future growth. Judgement is required in 
ensuring that only items that relate directly to this activity are separately presented.

Dilapidation provisions
Dilapidation provisions have been included in the accounts based on a judgement of the future expected repair costs, required 
under the terms of the lease, to restore the Group’s leased buildings to their fair condition at the end of their respective lease 
terms, where it is considered a reliable estimate can be made.

These provisions represent the best estimate of the liability at the balance sheet date. Expectations will be revised each period until 
the actual liability arises, with any difference accounted for in the period in which the revision is made.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

81

AccountsPage Title at start:Content Section at start:NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS CONTINUED

Significant accounting policies continued
(b)  Basis of preparation continued
Key estimates and judgements continued
Realisable value of property, plant and equipment
Property, plant and equipment is reviewed for impairment if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value 
may not be recoverable. For example, bakery equipment may be impaired if it is no longer in use and/or shop fittings may be 
impaired if sales in that shop fall. When a review for impairment is conducted the recoverable amount is estimated based on either 
value-in-use calculations or fair value less costs of disposal. Value-in-use calculations are based on management’s estimates of 
future cash flows generated by the assets and an appropriate discount rate. Consideration is also given to whether the impairment 
assessments made in prior years remain appropriate based on the latest expectations in respect of recoverable amount. Where it is 
concluded that the impairment has reduced, a reversal of the impairment is recorded.

The restructuring of supply chain operations in 2017, including the consolidation of production processes, gave rise to the need  
to evaluate the useful lives and realisable values of the assets used in the supply chain. The key judgements in assessing the 
recoverable amount for assets used in the supply chain, which are included in either land and buildings or plant and equipment 
within property, plant and equipment, are determining remaining useful economic lives or how assets would be priced by 
market participants. 

The sensitivities for growth rate, discount rate and lease term used in testing shop assets, which are included in fixtures and fittings 
within property, plant and equipment, for impairment have been considered and are deemed not significant. For instance, a two 
per cent change in the growth rate would result in no change in the impairment charge.

The useful economic lives of items of property, plant and equipment are reviewed if events or changes in circumstances indicate 
that the assets are likely to become obsolete before the end of their current estimated life. If the asset is expected to become 
obsolete then consideration is given as to the likely remaining life of the asset, whether the asset can be reused in some other 
capacity and whether it has any residual recoverable value. Depreciation of the asset may be accelerated to take account of all of 
these judgements. During the year, the consolidation of production processes triggered a reassessment of the remaining useful 
economic lives of certain assets used in the supply chain. These assets, which previously had useful economic lives of up to ten 
years, are now depreciated on an accelerated basis over a ten to 28-month period.

Post-retirement benefits
The determination of the defined benefit obligation of the Group’s defined benefit pension scheme depends on the selection of 
certain assumptions including the discount rate, inflation rate, mortality rates and commutation. Differences arising from actual 
experience or future changes in assumptions will be reflected in future years. The key assumptions made for 2017 are given in 
Note 20.

(c)  Basis of consolidation
The consolidated accounts include the results of Greggs plc and its subsidiary undertakings for the 52 weeks ended 30 December 
2017. The comparative period is the 52 weeks ended 31 December 2016.

(i)  Subsidiaries

Subsidiaries are entities controlled by the Company. The Company controls an entity when it is exposed to, or has rights to, 
variable returns from its involvement with the entity and has the ability to affect those returns through its power over the entity. 
The accounts of subsidiaries are included in the consolidated accounts from the date on which control commences until the 
date on which control ceases.

(ii)  Associates

Associates are those entities in which the Group has significant influence, but not control, over the financial and operating 
policies. Significant influence is presumed to exist when the Group holds between 20 and 50 per cent of the voting power of 
another entity. At the year end the Group has one associate which has not been consolidated on the grounds of materiality  
(see Note 12).

(iii)  Transactions eliminated on consolidation

Intragroup balances, and any unrealised gains and losses or income and expenses arising from intragroup transactions, are 
eliminated in preparing the consolidated accounts. 

(d)  Exceptional items
Exceptional items are defined as items of income and expenditure which are material and unusual in nature and which are 
considered to be of such significance that they require separate disclosure on the face of the income statement. Any future 
movements on items previously classified as exceptional will also be classified as exceptional.

(e)  Foreign currency
Transactions in foreign currencies are translated at the foreign exchange rate ruling at the date of the transaction. Monetary assets and 
liabilities denominated in foreign currencies at the balance sheet date are translated at the foreign exchange rate ruling at that date. 
Non-monetary assets and liabilities that are measured in terms of historical cost in a foreign currency are translated using the exchange 
rate at the date of the transaction. Foreign exchange differences arising on translation are recognised in the income statement.

82

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Page Title at start:Content Section at start:Intangible assets

(f) 
The Group’s only intangible assets relate to software and the costs of its implementation which are measured at cost less 
accumulated amortisation and accumulated impairment losses. Subsequent expenditure is capitalised only when it increases the 
future economic benefits embodied in the specific asset to which it relates. All other expenditure is recognised in the income 
statement as incurred.

Amortisation is recognised in the income statement on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful lives of intangible assets from 
the date that they are available for use. The estimated useful lives for the current and comparative periods are five years.

Assets in the course of development are re-categorised and amortisation commences when the assets are available for use.

(g)  Property, plant and equipment
(i)  Owned assets

Items of property, plant and equipment are stated at cost or deemed cost less accumulated depreciation (see below) and 
impairment losses (see accounting policy (k)). The cost of self-constructed assets includes the cost of materials and direct labour.

(ii)  Subsequent costs

The cost of replacing a component of an item of property, plant and equipment is recognised in the carrying amount of the 
item if it is probable that the future economic benefits embodied within the component will flow to the Group, and its costs 
can be measured reliably. The carrying value of the replaced component is derecognised. The costs of the day-to-day servicing 
of property, plant and equipment are recognised in the income statement as incurred.

(iii)  Depreciation

Depreciation is provided so as to write off the cost (less residual value) of each item of property, plant and equipment during 
its expected useful life using the straight-line method over the following periods:

Freehold and long leasehold buildings

40 years

Short leasehold properties

10 years or length of lease if shorter

Plant, machinery, equipment, vehicles, fixtures and fittings

3 to 10 years

Freehold land is not depreciated.

Depreciation methods, useful lives and residual values (if not insignificant) are reassessed annually.

(iv)  Assets in the course of construction

These assets are re-categorised and depreciation commences when the assets are available for use.

Investments

(h) 
Non-current investments comprise investments in subsidiaries and associates which are carried at cost less impairment.

Current investments comprise fixed-term fixed-rate bank deposits where the term is greater than three months.

Inventories

(i) 
Inventories are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value. Net realisable value is the estimated selling price in the ordinary 
course of business, less the estimated costs of completion and selling expenses. The cost of inventories includes expenditure 
incurred in acquiring the inventories and direct production labour costs.

(j)  Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents comprises cash balances and call deposits with an original maturity of three months or less. Bank 
overdrafts that are repayable on demand and form an integral part of the Group’s cash management are included as a component 
of cash and cash equivalents for the purpose of the statement of cash flows.

(k)  Impairment
The carrying amounts of the Group and Company’s assets, other than inventories and deferred tax assets, are reviewed at each 
balance sheet date to determine whether there is any indication of impairment. If any such indication exists, the asset’s recoverable 
amount is estimated. Impairment reviews are carried out on an individual shop basis unless there are a number of shops in the same 
location, in which case the impairment review is based on the location.

An impairment loss is recognised whenever the carrying amount of an asset exceeds its recoverable amount. Impairment losses are 
recognised in the income statement. Impairment losses recognised in prior years are assessed at each reporting date and reversed 
if there has been a change in the estimates used to determine the recoverable amount. An impairment loss is reversed only to the 
extent that the asset’s carrying amount does not exceed the carrying amount that would have been determined, net of 
depreciation, if no impairment loss had been recognised.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

83

AccountsPage Title at start:Content Section at start:NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS CONTINUED

Significant accounting policies continued
(l)  Non-current assets held for sale
Non-current assets that are expected to be recovered primarily through sale rather than through continuing use are classified as 
held for sale. Immediately before classification as held for sale, the assets are re-measured in accordance with the Group and 
Company’s accounting policies. Thereafter generally the assets are measured at the lower of their carrying amount and fair value 
less cost to sell. Once classified as held for sale assets are no longer depreciated or amortised.

(m)  Share capital and reserves
(i)  Re-purchase of share capital

When share capital recognised as equity is re-purchased, the amount of the consideration paid, including directly attributable 
costs, is recognised as a deduction from equity. Re-purchased shares that are held in the employee share ownership plan are 
classified as treasury shares and are presented as a deduction from total equity.

(ii)  Dividends

Dividends are recognised as a liability when the Company has an obligation to pay and the dividend is no longer at the 
Company’s discretion.

(iii)  Distributable reserves

All retained earnings are distributable and are the only such reserves.

(n)  Employee share ownership plan
The Group and Parent Company accounts include the assets and related liabilities of the Greggs Employee Benefit Trust (‘EBT’).  
In both the Group and Parent Company accounts the shares held by the EBT are stated at cost and deducted from total equity.

(o)  Employee benefits
(i)  Short-term employee benefits

Short-term employee benefits are expensed as the related service is provided. A liability is recognised for the amount 
expected to be paid if the Group has a present legal or constructive obligation to pay this amount as a result of past service 
provided by the employee and the obligation can be measured reliably.

(ii)  Defined contribution plans

Obligations for contributions to defined contribution pension plans are recognised as an expense in the income statement 
when they are due.

(iii)  Defined benefit plans

The Company’s net obligation in respect of defined benefit pension plans is calculated by estimating the amount of future 
benefit that employees have earned in return for their service in the current and prior periods; that benefit is discounted to 
determine its present value, and the fair value of any plan assets (at bid price) is deducted. The Company determines the net 
interest on the net defined benefit asset/liability for the period by applying the discount rate used to measure the defined 
benefit obligation at the beginning of the annual period to the net defined benefit asset/liability.

The discount rate is the yield at the reporting date on bonds that have a credit rating of at least AA, that have maturity dates 
approximating to the terms of the Company’s obligations and that are denominated in the currency in which the benefits are 
expected to be paid.

Re-measurements arising from defined benefit plans comprise actuarial gains and losses and the return on plan assets 
(excluding interest). The Company recognises them immediately in other comprehensive income and all other expenses related 
to defined benefit plans in employee benefit expenses in the income statement.

When the benefits of a plan are changed, or when a plan is curtailed, the portion of the changed benefit related to past service 
by employees, or the gain or loss on curtailment, is recognised immediately in profit or loss when the plan amendment or 
curtailment occurs.

The calculation of the defined benefit obligation is performed by a qualified actuary using the projected unit credit method. 
When the calculation results in a benefit to the Company, the recognised asset is limited to the present value of benefits 
available in the form of any future refunds from the plan or reductions in future contributions and takes into account the 
adverse effect of any minimum funding requirements.

(iv)  Share-based payment transactions

The share option programme allows Group employees to acquire shares of the Company. The fair value of share options 
granted is recognised as an employee expense with a corresponding increase in equity. The fair value is measured at grant 
date, using an appropriate model, taking into account the terms and conditions upon which the share options were granted, 
and is spread over the period during which the employees become unconditionally entitled to the options. The amount 
recognised as an expense is adjusted to reflect the actual number of share options that vest except where forfeiture is only due 
to share prices not achieving the threshold for vesting.

84

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Page Title at start:Content Section at start:(v)  Termination benefits

Termination benefits are expensed at the earlier of the date at which the Group can no longer withdraw the offer of these 
benefits and the date at which the Group recognises costs for a restructuring. If benefits are not expected to be settled wholly 
within 12 months of the reporting date they are discounted.

(p)  Provisions
A provision is recognised if, as a result of a past event, the Group has a present legal or constructive obligation that can be 
estimated reliably, and it is probable that an outflow of economic benefits will be required to settle the obligation. Provisions are 
determined by discounting the expected future cash flows at a pre-tax rate that reflects current market assessments of the time 
value of money and the risks specific to the liability.

(i)  Restructuring

A provision for restructuring is recognised when the Group has approved a detailed and formal restructuring plan, and the 
restructuring either has commenced or has been announced publicly. Future operating costs are not provided for.

(ii)  Onerous leases

Provisions for onerous leases are recognised when the Group believes that the unavoidable costs of meeting the lease 
obligations exceed the economic benefits expected to be received under the lease. Before a provision is established the 
Group recognises any impairment loss on the associated assets.

(iii)  Dilapidations

The Group provides for property dilapidations, where appropriate, based on the future expected repair costs required to 
restore the Group’s leased buildings to their fair condition at the end of their respective lease terms, where it is considered  
a reliable estimate can be made.

(q)  Revenue
(i)  Retail sales

Revenue from the sale of goods is recognised as income on receipt of cash or card payment. Revenue is measured net of 
discounts, promotions and value added taxation.

(ii)  Franchise sales

Franchise sales are recognised when goods are dispatched to franchisees. Additional franchise royalty fee income, generally 
calculated as a percentage of gross sales income, is recognised on an accruals basis in accordance with the relevant 
agreement. Pre-opening capital fit-out costs are recharged to the franchisee and represent a key performance obligation  
of the overall franchise sales agreement. These recharges are recognised as income on completion of the related fit-out.

(iii)  Wholesale sales

Wholesale sales are recognised when goods are dispatched to customers.

(iv)  Loyalty programme/gift cards

Amounts received for gift cards or as part of the loyalty programme are deferred. They are recognised as revenue when the 
Group has fulfilled its obligation to supply products under the terms of the programme or when it is no longer probable that 
these amounts will be redeemed. No adjustment is made to revenue to reflect the fair value of the free items provided under 
the loyalty scheme as these would be immaterial to the accounts. The costs of these free items are expensed as the products 
are provided to the customer.

(r)  Government grants
Government grants are recognised in the balance sheet initially as deferred income when there is a reasonable assurance that they 
will be received and that the Group will comply with the conditions attaching to them. Grants that compensate the Group for 
expenses incurred are recognised in the income statement on a systematic basis in the same periods in which the expenses are 
incurred. Grants that compensate the Group for the cost of an asset are recognised in the income statement over the useful life of 
the asset.

(s)  Operating lease payments
Payments under operating leases are recognised in the income statement on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease. Lease 
incentives received are recognised in the income statement as an integral part of the total lease expense over the term of the lease.

(t)  Finance income and expense
Interest income or expense is recognised using the effective interest method.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

85

AccountsPage Title at start:Content Section at start:NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS CONTINUED

Significant accounting policies continued
(u)  Income tax
Income tax comprises current and deferred tax. Income tax is recognised in the income statement except to the extent that it 
relates to items recognised directly in equity, in which case it is recognised in equity.

Current tax is the expected tax payable on the taxable profit for the year, using tax rates enacted or substantively enacted at the 
balance sheet date, and any adjustment to tax payable in respect of previous years. Taxable profit differs from profit as reported  
in the income statement because some items of income or expense are taxable or deductible in different years or may never be 
taxable or deductible.

Deferred tax is the tax expected to be payable or recoverable in the future arising from temporary differences between the 
carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used in the calculation of taxable profit. 
It is accounted for using the balance sheet liability method. The amount of deferred tax recognised is based on the expected 
manner of realisation or settlement of the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities, using tax rates that are expected to apply when 
the temporary differences reverse, based on rates enacted or substantively enacted at the balance sheet date.

Deferred tax is not recognised for the following temporary differences: the initial recognition of assets or liabilities in a transaction 
that is not a business combination and that affects neither accounting nor taxable profit, and differences relating to investments in 
subsidiaries to the extent that it is probable that they will not reverse in the foreseeable future.

A deferred tax asset is recognised only to the extent that it is probable that future taxable profits will be available against which the 
asset can be utilised. Deferred tax assets are reviewed at each reporting date and are reduced to the extent that it is no longer 
probable that the related deferred tax benefit will be realised. 

(v)  Research and development
The Company continuously strives to improve its products and processes through technical and other innovation. Such expenditure 
is typically expensed to the income statement as the related intellectual property is not capable of being formalised and does not 
always have distinguishable research and development phases.

(w)  IFRSs available for early adoption not yet applied
The following standards and amendments to standards which will be relevant to the Group were available for early adoption but 
have not been applied in these accounts:
 – IFRS 9 Financial Instruments (effective date 1 January 2018)
 – IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers (effective date 1 January 2018)

None of these standards and amendments is expected to have a significant impact on the accounts when they are adopted. With 
regard to IFRS 9 the only area of relevance relates to provisions in respect of trade receivables. Given the immateriality of the 
Group’s provision for bad debts no further analysis will be required. With regard to IFRS 15 the Group has considered all current 
revenue streams and concluded that none of them will require any change of treatment under the new standard.

IFRS 16 Leases was adopted by the EU on 31 October 2017. The effective date for implementation is 1 January 2019. The Group 
continues to work on a project to effect this implementation and be in a position to give a quantification of the impact by the end 
of 2018. The preferred software solution for the project has been selected and the Group plans to start work on the implementation 
of this in March 2018.

1. Segmental analysis
The Board is considered to be the ‘chief operating decision-maker’ of the Group in the context of the IFRS 8 definition. In addition 
to its retail activities, the Group generates revenues from franchise and wholesale. However, these elements of the business are not 
sufficiently significant to be ‘Reportable Segments’ in the context of IFRS 8.

Products and services – the Group sells a consistent range of fresh bakery goods, sandwiches and drinks in its shops. The Group 
also provides frozen bakery products to its wholesale customers.

Major customers – the majority of sales are made to the general public on a cash basis. A small proportion of sales are made on 
credit to certain organisations, including wholesale customers, but these are immaterial in a Group context.

Geographical areas – all results arise in the UK.

The Board regularly reviews the revenues of each segment separately but receives information on profits, assets and liabilities on an 
aggregated basis consistent with the Group accounts. Of the Group’s revenue, £891,778,000 (2016: £835,786,000) was attributable 
to the retail segment. 

86

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Page Title at start:Content Section at start:2. Financial risk management
Credit risk
Credit risk is the risk of financial loss to the Group if a customer or counterparty to a financial instrument fails to meet its 
contractual obligations.

Retail sales represent a large proportion of the Group’s sales and present no credit risk as they are made for cash or card payments. 
The Group does offer credit terms on sales to its wholesale and franchise customers. In such cases the Group operates effective 
credit control procedures in order to minimise exposure to overdue debts.

Counterparty risk is also considered low. All of the Group’s surplus cash is held with highly-rated banks, in line with Group policy.

Liquidity risk
Liquidity risk is the risk that the Group will not be able to meet its financial obligations as they fall due.

The Group operates with net current liabilities and is therefore reliant on the continued strong performance of the retail portfolio to 
meet its short-term liabilities. This is a well-established and proven business model. Any increase in short-term liquidity risk can be 
mitigated by reducing capital expenditure. The model has been tested in various scenarios for the Group’s viability statement which 
is included in the strategic report on page 81. The Group had significant cash resources at the year end.

Market risk
Market risk is the risk that changes in market prices, such as foreign exchange rates, interest rates and equity prices will affect the 
Group’s income or the value of its holdings of financial instruments.

Market risk is not significant and therefore sensitivity analysis would not be meaningful.

Currency risk
The Group has no regular transactions in foreign currency although there are occasional purchases, mainly of capital items, 
denominated in foreign currency. Whilst certain costs such as electricity and wheat can be influenced by movements in the US 
dollar, actual contracts are priced in sterling. In respect of those key costs which are volatile, such as electricity and flour, the price 
may be fixed for a period of time in line with Group policy. All such contracts are for the Group’s own expected usage.

Interest rate risk
The Group has low exposure to interest rate risk. Interest only arises on its bank deposits and overdrafts and the defined benefit 
pension scheme liability. Net financial expense in the year was £368,000 (2016: £26,000).

Equity price risk
The Group has no equity investments other than its subsidiaries and associate. As disclosed in Note 20 the Group’s defined benefit 
pension scheme has investments in equity-related funds.

Capital management
The Board defines capital as the equity of the Group. The Group has remained net cash positive with funding requirements met by 
cash generated from retail operations. The Board considers that it is not currently appropriate to take on structural debt given the 
inherent leverage of the leasehold shop estate and working capital requirements. The Board’s policy on dividend levels is to pursue 
a progressive dividend policy that pays due regard to the growth of earnings per share over the medium term, the cash-generative 
nature of the business and the continuing determination to deliver value to shareholders. The Board would expect to return any 
material level of surplus capital to shareholders, likely by way of a special dividend.

The Board reserves the option to purchase its own shares in the market dependent on market prices and surplus cash levels. The 
trustees of the Greggs Employment Benefit Trust also purchase shares for future satisfaction of employee share options.

Financial instruments
Group and Parent Company
All of the Group’s surplus cash is invested as cash placed on deposit or fixed-term deposits.

The Group’s treasury policy has as its principal objective the achievement of the maximum rate of return on cash balances whilst 
maintaining an acceptable level of risk. Other than mentioned below there are no financial instruments, derivatives or commodity 
contracts used.

Financial assets and liabilities
The Group’s main financial assets comprise cash and cash equivalents and fixed-term deposits. Other financial assets include trade 
receivables arising from the Group’s activities.

Other than trade and other payables, the Group had no financial liabilities within the scope of IAS 39 as at 30 December 2017 
(2016: £nil).

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

87

AccountsPage Title at start:Content Section at start:NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS CONTINUED

2. Financial risk management continued
Financial instruments continued
Fair values
The fair value of the Group’s financial assets and liabilities is not materially different from their carrying values. Financial assets and 
liabilities comprise principally of trade receivables and trade payables and the only interest bearing balances are the bank deposits 
and borrowings which attract interest at variable rates.

Interest rate, credit and foreign currency risk
The Group has not entered into any hedging transactions during the year and considers interest rate, credit and foreign currency 
risks not to be significant.

3. Profit before tax
Profit before tax is stated after charging/(crediting):

Amortisation of intangible assets
Depreciation on owned property, plant and equipment
(Reversal of impairment)/impairment of owned property, plant and equipment
Loss on disposal of fixed assets
Release of government grants
Payments under operating leases – property rents
Research and development expenditure
Auditor’s remuneration

Audit of these accounts
Audit of pension schemes’ accounts
Other services – tax advisory
All other services

2017
£’000

3,435
50,044
(415)
2,719
(472)
50,933
325

154
8
–
9

2016
£’000

2,100
43,453
488
2,476
(472)
48,335
325

150
10
3
15

Amounts paid to the Company’s auditor in respect of services to the Company, other than the audit of the Company’s accounts, 
have not been disclosed as the information is required instead to be presented on a consolidated basis.

4. Exceptional items

Cost of sales

Supply chain restructuring

Prior year items 

– redundancy
– gain on property disposal
– depreciation and asset write-off 
– transfer of operations
– property related
– dilapidations

Distribution and selling

Supply chain restructuring

Prior year items

– redundancy
– transfer of operations
– property related

Administrative expenses

Restructuring of support functions
Prior year items

– redundancy

Total exceptional items

2017
£’000

7,458
(403)
1,245
1,302
458
–

10,060

–
–
(198)

(198)

–
–

–

9,862

2016
£’000

3,028
–
1,852
44
–
(557)

4,367

1,108
356
(870)

594

391
(175)

216

5,177

Supply chain restructuring
This charge arises from the decisions, announced in 2016 and 2017, to invest in and reshape the Company’s supply chain in order  
to support future growth. In 2017 the costs relate to the sale of one bakery site, including the gain on disposal, redundancy costs 
relating to the consolidation of production processes, accelerated depreciation and other contractual obligations that arise as  
a result of this consolidation. In 2016 the costs related to the closure of three bakery sites and included redundancy and other 
employment-related costs, asset write-offs, impairment and transfer and other contractual obligations that arose as a result of the 
closure of the sites.

88

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Page Title at start:Content Section at start:Restructuring of support functions
This charge related to redundancy costs arising from the restructuring of bakery administration and payroll functions.

Prior year items
These relate to the movement on costs treated as exceptional in prior years and arise from the settlement of various property  
and redundancy transactions.

5. Personnel expenses
The average number of persons employed by the Group (including Directors) during the year was as follows:

Management
Administration
Production
Shop

The aggregate costs of these persons were as follows:

Wages and salaries
Compulsory social security contributions
Pension costs – defined contribution plans
Equity-settled transactions (including employer’s NI costs)

2017
Number

711
461
2,988
17,389

21,549

2017
£’000

321,872
22,535
11,258
2,575

358,240

2016
Number

720
464
3,028
16,369

20,581

2016
£’000

301,105
22,022
11,886
1,873

336,886

Note

20

20

In addition to wages and salaries, the total amount accrued under the Group’s employee profit sharing scheme is contained within 
the main cost categories as follows:

Cost of sales
Distribution and selling costs
Administrative expenses

2017
£’000

2,395
5,710
1,106

9,211

2016
£’000

2,289
5,458
1,056

8,803

For the purposes of IAS 24 ‘Related Party Disclosures’, key management personnel comprises the Directors and the members of the 
Operating Board and their remuneration was as follows:

Salaries and fees
Taxable benefits
Annual bonus (including profit share)
Post-retirement benefits
Share-based payments

2017
£’000

2,956
93
1,350
352
933

5,684

2016
£’000

2,597
94
1,608
298
1,136

5,733

During the year the Company further considered the requirements of IAS 24 and decided that the definition of key management 
personnel should be extended to include the Operating Board. The figures for 2016 have been restated to reflect this wider definition.

The following amounts are disclosed in accordance with Schedule 5 of the Large and Medium-Sized Companies and Groups 
(Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008.

Aggregate Directors’ remuneration
Aggregate amount of gains on exercise of share options

2017
£’000

1,820
1,374

3,194

2016
£’000

2,653
1,982

4,635

The number of Directors in the defined contribution pension scheme and in the defined benefit pension scheme during the year 
was two (2016: two).

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

89

AccountsPage Title at start:Content Section at start:NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS CONTINUED

6. Finance expense

Interest income on cash balances
Foreign exchange gain/(loss)
Net interest related to defined benefit obligation

Note

20

2017
£’000

46
203
(617)

(368)

2016
£’000

173
(49)
(150)

(26)

7. Profit attributable to Greggs plc
Of the Group profit for the year, £56,906,000 (2016: £57,967,000) is dealt with in the accounts of the Parent Company. The Company has 
taken advantage of the exemption permitted by section 408 of the Companies Act 2006 from presenting its own income statement.

8. Income tax expense
Recognised in the income statement

Excluding 
exceptional 
items
2017
£’000

Exceptional 
items
2017
£’000

Excluding 
exceptional
items
2016
£’000

Exceptional
items
2016
£’000

Total
2017
£’000

Current tax
Current year
Adjustment for prior years

Deferred tax
Origination and reversal of temporary differences
Reduction in tax rate
Adjustment for prior years

18,902
(1,256)

17,646

(1,756)
–

(1,756)

17,146
(1,256)

15,890

(457)
–
(266)

(723)

(128)
–
–

(128)

(585)
–
(266)

(851)

18,716
(946)

17,770

(342)
239
397

294

Total income tax expense in income statement

16,923

(1,884)

15,039

18,064

(767)
–

(767)

(148)
–
–

(148)

(915)

Total
2016
£’000

17,949
(946)

17,003

(490)
239
397

146

17,149

Reconciliation of effective tax rate
The tables below explain the differences between the expected tax expense calculated at the UK statutory rate of 19.25 per cent 
(2016: 20 per cent) and the actual tax expense for each year for both the total tax expense and the underlying tax expense, 
excluding the effect of exceptional items.

Total tax expense

Profit before tax

Income tax using the domestic corporation tax rate
Expenses not deductible for tax purposes
Non-tax-deductible depreciation
Loss on disposal of non-tax-deductible assets
Impact of reduction in deferred tax rate
Adjustment for prior years

Total income tax expense in income statement

Underlying (excluding exceptional items)

Profit before tax

Income tax using the domestic corporation tax rate
Expenses not deductible for tax purposes
Non-tax-deductible depreciation
Loss on disposal of non-tax-deductible assets
Impact of reduction in deferred tax rate
Adjustment for prior years

Total income tax expense in income statement

90

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

2017

19.25%
1.20%
2.00%
0.45%
0.10%
(2.10%)

20.90%

2017

19.25%
1.10%
1.75%
0.40%
0.10%
(1.90%)

20.70%

2017
£’000

71,945

13,849
882
1,425
328
77
(1,522)

15,039

2017
£’000

81,807

15,748
882
1,425
328
62
(1,522)

16,923

2016

20.0%
0.9%
2.1%
0.1%
0.4%
(0.7%)

22.8%

2016

20.0%
0.9%
1.8%
0.1%
0.4%
(0.7%)

22.5%

2016
£’000

75,142

15,028
697
1,554
93
326
(549)

17,149

2016
£’000

80,319

16,064
697
1,473
80
299
(549)

18,064

Page Title at start:Content Section at start:A reduction in the rate of corporation tax from 19 per cent to 17 per cent with effect from 1 April 2020 was substantively enacted 
on 6 September 2016. Any timing differences which reverse before 1 April 2020 will do so at 19 per cent and any timing differences 
which exist at 1 April 2020 will reverse at 17 per cent.

Tax recognised in other comprehensive income or directly in equity

Debit/(credit):
Relating to equity-settled transactions
Relating to defined benefit plans – re-measurement gains/(losses)

2017
Current
tax
£’000

2017
Deferred tax
£’000

–
–

–

(895)
2,714

1,819

2017
Total
£’000

(895)
2,714

1,819

2016
Total
£’000

5,128
(3,194)

1,934

The deferred tax movements in both the current and prior years relating to equity-settled transactions are in respect of share-based 
payments and arise primarily as a result of fluctuations in share price in the year and the stage of maturity of existing schemes.

9. Earnings per share
Basic earnings per share
Basic earnings per share for the 52 weeks ended 30 December 2017 is calculated by dividing profit attributable to ordinary 
shareholders by the weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding during the 52 weeks ended 30 December 2017  
as calculated below.

Diluted earnings per share
Diluted earnings per share for the 52 weeks ended 30 December 2017 is calculated by dividing profit attributable to ordinary 
shareholders by the weighted average number of ordinary shares, adjusted for the effects of all dilutive potential ordinary shares (which 
comprise share options granted to employees) outstanding during the 52 weeks ended 30 December 2017 as calculated below.

Profit attributable to ordinary shareholders

Profit for the financial year attributable to 

equity holders of the Parent

Basic earnings per share
Diluted earnings per share

Weighted average number of ordinary shares

2017
Excluding 
exceptional
items
£’000

64,884

64.5p
63.5p

2017
Exceptional
items
£’000

2017
Total
£’000

(7,978)

56,906

(7.9p)
(7.8p)

56.6p
55.7p

2016
Excluding 
exceptional
items
£’000

62,255

62.0p
60.8p

2016
Exceptional
items
£’000

(4,262)

(4.2p)
(4.1p)

2016
Total
£’000

57,993

57.8p
56.7p

Issued ordinary shares at start of year
Effect of own shares held

Weighted average number of ordinary shares during the year
Effect of share options on issue

Weighted average number of ordinary shares (diluted) during the year

2017
Number

2016
Number

101,155,901
(510,293)

101,155,901
(710,295)

100,645,608 100,445,606
1,921,344

1,489,067

102,134,675 102,366,950

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

91

AccountsPage Title at start:Content Section at start:NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS CONTINUED

10. Intangible assets
Group and Parent Company

Cost
Balance at 3 January 2016
Additions
Transfers

Balance at 31 December 2016

Balance at 1 January 2017
Additions
Transfers

Balance at 30 December 2017

Amortisation
Balance at 3 January 2016
Amortisation charge for the year

Balance at 31 December 2016

Balance at 1 January 2017
Amortisation charge for the year

Balance at 30 December 2017

Carrying amounts
At 3 January 2016

At 31 December 2016

At 1 January 2017

At 30 December 2017

Software
£’000

2,532
5,961
7,968

16,461

16,461
3,522
762

20,745

1,257
2,100

3,357

3,357
3,435

6,792

1,275

13,104

13,104

13,953

Assets under 
development
£’000

8,973
145
(7,968)

1,150

1,150
396
(762)

784

–
–

–

–
–

–

8,973

1,150

1,150

784

Total
£’000

11,505
6,106
–

17,611

17,611
3,918
–

21,529

1,257
2,100

3,357

3,357
3,435

6,792

10,248

14,254

14,254

14,737

Assets under development relate to software projects arising from the investment in new systems platforms.

92

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Page Title at start:Content Section at start:11. Property, plant and equipment
Group

Cost
Balance at 3 January 2016
Additions
Disposals
Transfers

Balance at 31 December 2016

Balance at 1 January 2017
Additions
Disposals
Transfers

Balance at 30 December 2017

Depreciation
Balance at 3 January 2016
Depreciation charge for the year
Impairment charge for the year
Impairment release for the year
Disposals

Balance at 31 December 2016

Balance at 1 January 2017
Depreciation charge for the year
Impairment charge for the year
Impairment release for the year
Disposals
Transfers

Balance at 30 December 2017

Carrying amounts
At 3 January 2016

At 31 December 2016

At 1 January 2017

At 30 December 2017

Land and
buildings
£’000

Plant and
equipment
£’000

Fixtures
and fittings
£’000

Assets under
construction
£’000

126,999
7,710
(3,427)
9,075

129,764
13,446
(9,083)
2,094

267,707
50,724
(29,898)
–

140,357

136,221

288,533

140,357
7,606
(2,501)
1,748

136,221
10,246
(10,022)
686

288,533
40,586
(22,398)
–

11,168
2,435
–
(11,169)

2,434

2,434
8,037
–
(2,434)

Total
£’000

535,638
74,315
(42,408)
–

567,545

567,545
66,475
(34,921)
–

147,210

137,131

306,721

8,037

599,099

36,019
2,949
436
–
(1,423)

37,981

37,981
3,770
–
–
(1,569)
(164)

40,018

90,980

102,376

102,376

107,192

87,650
11,250
–
–
(8,409)

90,491

90,491
12,022
–
–
(9,203)
164

93,474

42,114

45,730

45,730

43,657

127,806
29,254
624
(572)
(25,402)

131,710

131,710
34,252
104
(519)
(19,135)
–

146,412

139,901

156,823

156,823

160,309

–
–
–
–
–

–

–
–
–
–
–
–

–

11,168

2,434

2,434

8,037

251,475
43,453
1,060
(572)
(35,234)

260,182

260,182
50,044
104
(519)
(29,907)
–

279,904

284,163

307,363

307,363

319,195

Assets are reviewed for impairment on a regular basis and provision made where necessary. For shop assets a discounted cashflow 
is calculated for each shop using historic cashflows including attributable overheads, a zero per cent growth rate, the Group’s cost 
of capital of ten per cent, as an approximation to that for each individual unit, and an appropriate assumption regarding the 
remaining lease term. The net book value of the relevant assets attributable to the shop is impaired to the extent that the net 
present value of the cashflows is lower than the net book value. Supply chain assets are impaired to their estimated recoverable 
amount which is generally deemed to be £nil.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

93

AccountsPage Title at start:Content Section at start:NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS CONTINUED

11. Property, plant and equipment continued
Parent Company

Cost
Balance at 3 January 2016
Additions
Disposals
Transfers

Balance at 31 December 2016

Balance at 1 January 2017
Additions
Disposals
Transfers

Balance at 30 December 2017

Depreciation
Balance at 3 January 2016
Depreciation charge for the year
Impairment charge for the year
Impairment release for the year
Disposals

Balance at 31 December 2016

Balance at 1 January 2017
Depreciation charge for the year
Impairment charge for the year
Impairment release for the year
Disposals
Transfers

Balance at 30 December 2017

Carrying amounts
At 3 January 2016

At 31 December 2016

At 1 January 2017

At 30 December 2017

Land and buildings
The carrying amount of land and buildings comprises:

Freehold property
Short leasehold property

Land and
buildings
£’000

Plant and
equipment
£’000

Fixtures
and fittings
£’000

Assets under
construction
£’000

127,509
7,710
(3,427)
9,075

140,867

140,867
7,606
(2,501)
1,748

130,297
13,446
(9,083)
2,094

136,754

136,754
10,246
(10,022)
686

268,195
50,724
(29,898)
–

289,021

289,021
40,586
(22,398)
–

11,168
2,435
–
(11,169)

2,434

2,434
8,037
–
(2,434)

Total
£’000

537,169
74,315
(42,408)
–

569,076

569,076
66,475
(34,921)
–

147,720

137,664

307,209

8,037

600,630

36,296
2,949
436
–
(1,423)

38,258

38,258
3,770
–
–
(1,569)
(164)

40,295

91,213

102,609

102,609

107,425

87,920
11,250
–
–
(8,409)

90,761

90,761
12,022
–
–
(9,203)
164

93,744

42,377

45,993

45,993

43,920

128,197
29,254
624
(572)
(25,402)

132,101

132,101
34,252
104
(519)
(19,135)
–

146,803

139,998

156,920

156,920

160,406

–
–
–
–
–

–

–
–
–
–
–
–

–

11,168

2,434

2,434

8,037

252,413
43,453
1,060
(572)
(35,234)

261,120

261,120
50,044
104
(519)
(29,907)
–

280,842

284,756

307,956

307,956

319,788

Group

2017
£’000

105,576
1,616

107,192

2016
£’000

100,725
1,651

102,376

Parent Company

2017
£’000

105,809
1,616

107,425

2016
£’000

100,958
1,651

102,609

94

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Page Title at start:Content Section at start:12. Investments
Non-current investments
Parent Company

Cost
Balance at 3 January 2016, 31 December 2016 and 30 December 2017

Impairment
Balance at 3 January 2016, 31 December 2016 and 30 December 2017

Carrying amount
Balance at 3 January 2016, 31 December 2016, 1 January 2017 and 30 December 2017

The undertakings in which the Company’s interest at the year end is more than 20 per cent are as follows:

Shares in 
subsidiary 
undertakings
£’000

5,828

841

4,987

Charles Bragg (Bakers) Limited
Greggs (Leasing) Limited
Thurston Parfitt Limited
Greggs Properties Limited
Olivers (U.K.) Limited
Olivers (U.K.) Development Limited*
Birketts Holdings Limited
J.R. Birkett and Sons Limited*
Greggs Trustees Limited
Solstice Zone A Management Company Limited

Principal activity

Non-trading
Dormant
Non-trading
Property holding
Dormant
Non-trading
Dormant
Non-trading
Trustees
Non-trading

Notes:
*  Held indirectly.
1  Greggs House, Quorum Business Park, Newcastle upon Tyne NE12 8BU.
2  Clydesmill Bakery, 75 Westburn Drive, Clydesmill Estate, Cambuslang, Glasgow G72 7NA.
3  The Abbey, Preston, Yeovil, Somerset BA20 2EN.

Address of 
registered office

Proportion of 
voting rights and 
shares held

1
1
1
1
2
2
1
1
1
3

100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
28%

Solstice Zone A Management Company Limited was not consolidated on the grounds of materiality.

The Company’s subsidiary undertakings listed above were all entitled to exemption, under subsections (1) and (2) of section 480  
of Companies Act 2006 relating to dormant companies, from the requirement to have their accounts audited.

13. Deferred tax assets and liabilities
Group
Deferred tax assets and liabilities are attributable to the following:

Property, plant and equipment
Employee benefits
Short-term temporary differences

Tax assets/(liabilities)

Assets

Liabilities

Net

2017
£’000

–
4,044
575

4,619

2016
£’000

–
6,397
48

6,445

2017
£’000

(3,837)
–
–

(3,837)

2016
£’000

(4,695)
–
–

(4,695)

2017
£’000

(3,837)
4,044
575

782

2016
£’000

(4,695)
6,397
48

1,750

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

95

AccountsPage Title at start:Content Section at start:NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS CONTINUED

13. Deferred tax assets and liabilities continued
Group continued
The movements in temporary differences during the year ended 31 December 2016 were as follows:

Property, plant and equipment
Employee benefits
Short-term temporary differences

Balance at 
3 January 2016
£’000

Recognised
in income
£’000

Recognised
in equity
£’000

(5,080)
8,878
32

3,830

385
(547)
16

(146)

–
(1,934)
–

(1,934)

The movements in temporary differences during the year ended 30 December 2017 were as follows:

Property, plant and equipment
Employee benefits
Short-term temporary differences

Balance at 
1 January 2017
£’000

Recognised
in income
£’000

Recognised
in equity
£’000

(4,695)
6,397
48

1,750

858
(534)
527

851

–
(1,819)
–

(1,819)

Balance at 
31 December 
2016
£’000

(4,695)
6,397
48

1,750

Balance at 
30 December 
2017
£’000

(3,837)
4,044
575

782

Parent Company
Deferred tax assets and liabilities are attributable to the following:

Property, plant and equipment
Employee benefits
Short-term temporary differences

Tax assets/(liabilities)

Assets

Liabilities

Net

2017
£’000

–
4,044
575

4,619

2016
£’000

–
6,397
48

6,445

2017
£’000

(3,388)
–
–

(3,388)

2016
£’000

(4,246)
–
–

(4,246)

2017
£’000

(3,388)
4,044
575

1,231

2016
£’000

(4,246)
6,397
48

2,199

The movements in temporary differences during the year ended 31 December 2016 were as follows:

Property, plant and equipment
Employee benefits
Short-term temporary differences

Balance at 
3 January
2016
£’000

(4,605)
8,878
32

4,305

Recognised
in income
£’000

Recognised
in equity
£’000

359
(547)
16

(172)

–
(1,934)
–

(1,934)

The movements in temporary differences during the year ended 30 December 2017 were as follows:

Property, plant and equipment
Employee benefits
Short-term temporary differences

Balance at 
1 January 2017
£’000

Recognised
in income
£’000

Recognised
in equity
£’000

(4,246)
6,397
48

2,199

858
(534)
527

851

–
(1,819)
–

(1,819)

Balance at 
31 December 
2016
£’000

(4,246)
6,397
48

2,199

Balance at 
30 December 
2017
£’000

(3,388)
4,044
575

1,231

96

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Page Title at start:Content Section at start:14. Inventories

Raw materials and consumables
Work in progress

15. Trade and other receivables

Trade receivables
Other receivables
Prepayments

Group and Parent Company

2017
£’000

13,330
5,358

18,688

2016
£’000

12,375
3,559

15,934

Group and Parent Company

2017
£’000

11,833
4,921
16,611

33,365

2016
£’000

12,250
4,741
13,722

30,713

At 30 December 2017 trade receivables are shown net of an allowance for bad debts of £24,000 (2016: £46,000) arising in the 
ordinary course of business.

The ageing of trade receivables that were not impaired at the balance sheet date was:

Not past due date
Past due 1-30 days
Past due 31-90 days
Past due over 90 days

Group and Parent Company

2017
£’000

9,897
1,923
11
2

11,833

2016
£’000

11,563
149
458
80

12,250

The Group believes that the unimpaired amounts that are past due by more than 30 days are still collectable in full based on 
historic payment behaviour and extensive analysis of customer credit risk. Based on the Group’s monitoring of customer credit risk, 
the Group believes that no impairment allowance is necessary in respect of trade receivables not past due.

16. Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents

17. Trade and other payables

Trade payables
Amounts owed to subsidiary undertakings
Other taxes and social security
Other payables
Accruals and deferred income
Deferred Government grants

Group and Parent Company

2017
£’000

54,503

2016
£’000

45,960

Group

Parent Company

2017
£’000

48,207
–
7,378
33,325
17,748
468

2016
£’000

49,482
–
7,143
28,744
19,087
468

2017
£’000

48,207
7,807
7,378
33,325
17,748
468

2016
£’000

49,482
7,807
7,143
28,744
19,087
468

107,126

104,924

114,933

112,731

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

97

AccountsPage Title at start:Content Section at start:NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS CONTINUED

18. Current tax liability
The current tax liability of £8,714,000 in the Group and the Parent Company (2016: Group and Parent Company £10,426,000) 
represents the estimated amount of income taxes payable in respect of current and prior years.

19. Non-current liabilities – other payables

Deferred Government grants

Group and Parent Company

2017
£’000

5,127

2016
£’000

5,599

The Group has been awarded five Government grants relating to the extension of existing facilities and construction of new 
facilities. The grants, which have all been recognised as deferred income, are being amortised over the weighted average of the 
useful lives of the assets they have been used to acquire.

20. Employee benefits
Defined benefit plan
Scheme background
The Company sponsors a funded final salary defined benefit pension plan (the ‘scheme’) for qualifying employees. The scheme was 
closed to future accrual in 2008 and all remaining employees who are still members of the scheme are now members of the 
Company’s defined contribution scheme.

The scheme is administered by a separate Board of Trustees which is legally separate from the Company. The Trustees are 
composed of representatives of both the employer and employees. The Trustees are required by law to act in the interest of all 
relevant beneficiaries and are responsible for the investment policy with regard to the assets plus the day-to-day administration  
of the benefits.

UK legislation requires that pension schemes are funded prudently. The last funding valuation of the Scheme was carried out by a 
qualified actuary as at 6 April 2017 and showed a surplus. The Company is currently not required to pay contributions into the scheme.

Profile of the scheme
The defined benefit obligation includes benefits for former employees and current pensioners. Broadly, two-thirds of the liabilities 
are attributable to deferred members and one-third to current pensioners.

The scheme duration is an indicator of the weighted average time until benefit payments are made. For the scheme as a whole, the 
duration is approximately 20 years.

Investment strategy
The Company and Trustees have agreed a long-term strategy for reducing investment risk as and when appropriate. This includes  
a policy to hold sufficient cash and bond assets to cover the anticipated benefit payments for at least the next five years so as to 
improve the cashflow matching of the scheme’s assets and liabilities.

Defined benefit obligation
Fair value of plan assets

Net defined benefit liability

Group and Parent Company

2017
£’000

(122,244)
114,738

(7,506)

2016
£’000

(131,373)
108,522

(22,851)

98

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Page Title at start:Content Section at start:Liability for defined benefit obligations
Changes in the present value of the defined benefit obligation are as follows:

Opening defined benefit obligation
Interest cost
Re-measurement (gains)/losses:

– changes in mortality assumptions
– changes in commutation assumptions
– changes in financial assumptions
– experience

Benefits paid

Changes in the fair value of plan assets are as follows:

Opening fair value of plan assets
Net interest on plan assets
Re-measurement gains
Benefits paid

Closing fair value of plan assets

The costs charged in the income statement are as follows:

Interest expense on net defined benefit liability

The amounts recognised in other comprehensive income are as follows:

Re-measurement gains/(losses) on defined benefit pension plans

Group and Parent Company

2017
£’000

131,373
3,483

(4,879)
(7,010)
3,770
953
(5,446)

2016
£’000

102,918
3,871

–
–
29,387
(699)
(4,104)

122,244

131,373

Group and Parent Company

2017
£’000

108,522
2,866
8,796
(5,446)

114,738

2016
£’000

99,008
3,721
9,897
(4,104)

108,522

Group

2017
£’000

617

2016
£’000

150

Group

2017
£’000

15,962

2016
£’000

(18,791)

Cumulative re-measurement gains and losses reported in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income since  
28 December 2003, the transition date to adopted IFRSs, for the Group and the Parent Company are net losses of £24,048,000  
(2016: net losses of £40,010,000).

The fair value of the plan assets is as follows:

Equities  – UK

– overseas

Bonds   – corporate

– government

Absolute return funds
Cash and cash equivalents/other

Group and Parent Company

2017
£’000

40,494
45,329
16,230
3,564
5,486
3,635

2016
£’000

40,239
42,740
13,747
3,606
7,280
910

114,738

108,522

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

99

AccountsPage Title at start:Content Section at start:   
   
NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS CONTINUED

20. Employee benefits continued
Defined benefit plan continued
Liability for defined benefit obligations continued
Principal actuarial assumptions (expressed as weighted averages):

Discount rate
Future salary increases
Future pension increases

Group and Parent Company

2017

2016

2.50%
n/a
1.7% – 2.45%

2.70%
n/a
1.7% – 2.45%

Mortality assumption
Mortality in retirement is assumed to be in line with the S2PXA tables using CMI_2016 projections and a long-term rate of 1.25 per 
cent per annum. Under these assumptions, pensioners aged 65 now are expected to live for a further 22.1 years (2016: 22.5 years)  
if they are male and 24.0 years (2016: 24.5 years) if they are female. Members currently aged 45 are expected to live for a further 
23.9 years (2016: 24.4 years) from age 65 if they are male and for a further 25.5 years (2016: 26.5 years) from age 65 if they are female.

The sensitivities regarding the principal assumptions used to measure the scheme liabilities are set out below:

Discount rate
Inflation
Mortality rates

Change in assumption

Impact on scheme liabilities

0.1% increase
0.1% decrease
1 year decrease

£2.6m decrease
£1.6m decrease
£5.2m decrease

Commutation assumption
The assumptions have been reviewed during the year. In order to reflect the levels of commutation being experienced by the 
scheme, an allowance has now been included in the valuation for commutation. The assumption adopted is that 90% of deferred 
members will opt to commute 25% of their pension at retirement. The commutation factors used for members aged 65 are 14.00 
for males and 15.11 for females. The adoption of this assumption in respect of commutation has resulted in a decrease in the 
defined benefit obligation of £7,010,000.

The other demographic assumptions have been set having regard to latest trends in the scheme.

The triennial valuation of the scheme took place in April 2017. The outcome of that valuation was considered by the Trustees and 
the Company and no requirement for future contributions was identified.

Defined contribution plan
The Company also operates defined contribution schemes for other eligible employees. The assets of the schemes are held 
separately from those of the Group. The pension cost represents contributions payable by the Group and amounted to £11,258,000 
(2016: £11,886,000) in the year.

100

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Page Title at start:Content Section at start:Share-based payments – Group and Parent Company
The Group has established a Savings Related Share Option Scheme, an Executive Share Option Scheme and a Performance Share Plan.

The terms and conditions of the grants for these schemes are as follows, whereby all options are settled by physical delivery 
of shares:

Date of grant

Employees entitled

Exercise
price

Number
of shares
granted

April 2008

Senior employees

457p

618,500

April 2009

Senior employees

356p

2,012,000

March 2012 Senior executives

£nil

248,922

March 2013 Senior employees

480p

693,000

March 2013 Senior executives

£nil

305,592

Contractual
life

10 years

10 years

10 years

10 years

10 years

Vesting conditions

Three years’ service and EPS 
growth of 3-5% over RPI on 
average over those three years

Three years’ service and EPS 
growth of 3-7% over RPI on 
average over those three years

Three years’ service, EPS annual 
compound growth of 3-8% over 
RPI over those three years and 
TSR position relative to an 
appropriate comparator group

Three years’ service and EPS 
growth of 3-7% over RPI on 
average over those three years

Three years’ service, EPS annual 
compound growth of 3-8% over 
RPI over those three years and 
TSR position relative to an 
appropriate comparator group

April 2013

All employees

414p

699,989

Three years’ service

3.5 years

March 2014 Senior executives

£nil

224,599

April 2014

Senior employees

500p

598,225

Three years’ service, EPS annual 
compound growth of 1-4% over 
RPI over those three years and 
average annual ROCE of 15.5-17% 
over those three years

Three years’ service and EPS 
growth of 1-4% over RPI on 
average over those three years

10 years

10 years

April 2014

All employees

465p

696,344

Three years’ service

3.5 years

March 2015 Senior employees

1022p

298,045

May 2015

Senior employee

1056p

3,285

March 2015 Senior executives

£nil

146,174

Three years’ service and EPS 
growth of 1-7% over RPI on 
average over those three years

Three years’ service and EPS 
growth of 1-7% over RPI on 
average over those three years

Three years’ service, EPS annual 
compound growth of 1-7% over 
RPI over those three years and 
average annual ROCE of 19-21.5% 
over those three years

10 years

10 years

10 years

April 2015

All employees

818p

391,979

Three years’ service

3.5 years

Executive Share Option 
Scheme 13

Executive Share Option 
Scheme 14

Performance Share
Plan 3

Executive Share Option 
Scheme 16

Performance Share
Plan 4

Savings Related Share 
Option Scheme 14

Performance Share
Plan 5

Executive Share Option 
Scheme 17

Savings Related Share 
Option Scheme 15

Executive Share Option 
Scheme 18

Executive Share Option 
Scheme 18a

Performance Share
Plan 6

Savings Related Share 
Option Scheme 16

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

101

AccountsPage Title at start:Content Section at start:NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS CONTINUED

20. Employee benefits continued
Share-based payments – Group and Parent Company continued

Date of grant

Employees entitled

Exercise
price

March 2016 Senior executives

£nil

Number
of shares
granted

133,271

April 2016

Senior employees

1088p

235,857

Vesting conditions

Three years’ service, EPS average 
annual growth of 2-8% over RPI 
over those three years and 
average annual ROCE of 22-27% 
over those three years

Three years’ service and EPS 
growth of 2-8% over RPI on 
average over those three years

Contractual
life

10 years

10 years

April 2016

All employees

870p

361,853

Three years’ service

3.5 years

May 2017

Senior executives

£nil

206,404

April 2017

Senior employees

1033p

246,219

Three years’ service, EPS average 
annual growth of 5-11% over 
those three years and average 
annual ROCE of 23-27% over 
those three years

Three years’ service and EPS 
growth of 5-11% on average  
over those three years

10 years

10 years

April 2017

All employees

807p

403,560

Three years’ service

3.5 years

Performance Share
Plan 7

Executive Share Option 
Scheme 19

Savings Related Share 
Option Scheme 17

Performance Share
Plan 8

Executive Share Option 
Scheme 20

Savings Related Share 
Option Scheme 18

The number and weighted average exercise price of share options is as follows:

Outstanding at the beginning of the year
Lapsed during the year
Exercised during the year
Granted during the year

Outstanding at the end of the year

Exercisable at the end of the year

2017

Weighted 
average
exercise price

548p
848p
374p
677p

649p

419p

Number of 
options

3,521,408
(165,172)
(1,318,930)
856,183

2,893,489

685,933

2016

Weighted 
average
exercise price

446p
662p
324p
782p

548p

399p

Number of 
options

4,033,559
(106,112)
(1,137,020)
730,981

3,521,408

582,327

The options outstanding at 30 December 2017 have an exercise price in the range of £nil to £10.88 and have a weighted average 
contractual life of 5.5 years. The options exercised during the year had a weighted average market value of £11.19 (2016: £10.93).

The fair value of services received in return for share options granted is measured by reference to the fair value of share options 
granted. The estimate of the fair value of the services received is measured based on the Black-Scholes model for all Savings 
Related Share Option Schemes and Executive Share Option Schemes and for Performance Share Plan options granted from 2014 
onwards. The Monte Carlo option pricing model was used for Performance Share Plans granted prior to 2014. The fair value per 
option granted and the assumptions used in these calculations are as follows:

2017

2016

Performance 
Share Plan 8
May 2017

Executive Share 
Option
Scheme 20
April 2017

Savings Related 
Share Option 
Scheme 18
April 2017

Performance 
Share Plan 7
March 2016

Executive Share 
Option
Scheme 19
April 2016

Savings Related 
Share Option 
Scheme 17
April 2016

981p

1072p
nil
30.25%
3 years
2.95%
0.17%

165p

1033p
1033p
30.25%
3 years
3.00%
0.17%

238p

807p
1009p
30.09%
3 years
3.07%
0.14%

971p

1102p
nil
29.5%
3 years
2.60%
0.55%

177p

1088p
1088p
29.4%
3 years
2.63%
0.48%

263p

870p
1087p
28.8%
3 years
2.66%
0.66%

Fair value at grant date

Share price
Exercise price
Expected volatility
Option life
Expected dividend yield
Risk-free rate

102

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Page Title at start:Content Section at start:The expected volatility is based on historical volatility, adjusted for any expected changes to future volatility due to publicly 
available information. The historical volatility is calculated using a weekly rolling share price for the three-year period immediately 
prior to the option grant date.

The costs charged to the income statement relating to share-based payments were as follows:

Share options granted in 2013
Share options granted in 2014
Share options granted in 2015
Share options granted in 2016
Share options granted in 2017

2017
£’000

–
178
748
482
427

2016
£’000

134
639
820
401
–

Total expense recognised as employee costs

1,835

1,994

21. Provisions

Balance at start of year
Additional provision in 

the year:
– ordinary
– exceptional
Utilised in year:

– ordinary
– exceptional

Provisions reversed 
during the year:
– ordinary
– exceptional

2017
Dilapidations
£’000

2017
Onerous 
leases
£’000

2017
Redundancy
£’000

Group and Parent Company

2017
Other
£’000

2017
Total
£’000

2016
Dilapidations
£’000

2016
Onerous 
leases
£’000

2016
Redundancy
£’000

2016
Other
£’000

2016
Total
£’000

3,243

1,819

1,438

1,014

7,514

3,343

2,289

–

1,605

7,237

1,954
–

206
10

–
7,349

1,513
–

3,673
7,359

(940)
(95)

(352)
(81)

–
(1,583)

(574)
–

(1,866)
(1,759)

1,611
72

(426)
(209)

690
–

–
3,964

22
–

2,323
4,036

(306)
(268)

–
(2,526)

(470)
–

(1,202)
(3,003)

(1,152)
(54)

(175)
(106)

–
–

–
–

(1,327)
(160)

(586)
(562)

(200)
(386)

–
–

(143)
–

(929)
(948)

Balance at end of year

2,956

1,321

7,204

1,953

13,434

3,243

1,819

1,438

1,014

7,514

Included in current 

liabilities

Included in non-current 

liabilities

2,689

379

7,204

1,818

12,090

267

942

–

135

1,344

2,899

344

866

953

2,956

1,321

7,204

1,953

13,434

3,243

1,819

1,438

1,014

1,438

885

6,088

–

129

1,426

7,514

The provisions at the end of the year relates to ordinary or exceptional activity as follows:

Ordinary
Exceptional

2,619
337

2,956

713
608

1,321

–
7,204

7,204

1,953
–

5,285
8,149

1,953

13,434

2,757
486

3,243

1,034
785

1,819

–
1,438

1,438

1,014
–

1,014

4,805
2,709

7,514

The provision for onerous leases is held in respect of leasehold properties for which the Group is liable to fulfil rent and other 
property commitments for shops from which either the Group no longer trades or for which future trading cash flows are projected 
to be insufficient to cover these costs. Amounts have been provided for the shortfall between projected cashflows and property 
costs up to the lease expiry date or other appropriate estimated date. Included within the provision is £607,000 (2016: £607,000)  
in respect of possible recourse on leases which have been conditionally assigned.

The provision for redundancy costs arises from the supply chain restructuring described in Note 4.

Other provisions relate predominantly to national insurance costs on future share option exercises.

The majority of all of the provisions are expected to be utilised within four years such that the impact of discounting would not 
be material.

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

103

AccountsPage Title at start:Content Section at start:NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNTS CONTINUED

22. Capital and reserves
Share capital

In issue and fully paid at start and end of year – ordinary shares of 2p

Ordinary shares

2017
Number

2016
Number

101,155,901

101,155,901

The holders of ordinary shares are entitled to receive dividends as declared from time to time and are entitled to one vote per 
share at meetings of the Company.

Capital redemption reserve
The capital redemption reserve relates to the nominal value of issued share capital bought back by the Company and cancelled.

Own shares held
Deducted from retained earnings is £28,327,000 (2016: £22,333,000) in respect of own shares held by the Greggs Employee Benefit 
Trust. The Trust, which was established during 1988 to act as a repository of issued Company shares, holds 504,215 shares (2016: 
878,235 shares) with a market value at 30 December 2017 of £7,054,000 (2016: £8,519,000) which have not vested unconditionally  
in employees. During the year the Trust purchased 986,150 shares for an aggregate consideration of £11,352,000 and sold 1,360,170 
shares for an aggregate consideration of £5,358,000.

The shares held by the Greggs Employee Benefit Trust can be purchased either by employees on the exercise of an option under the 
Greggs Executive Share Option Schemes, Greggs Savings Related Share Option Scheme and Greggs Performance Share Plan or by the 
trustees of the Greggs Employee Share Scheme. The trustees have elected to waive the dividends payable on these shares.

Dividends
The following tables analyse dividends when paid and the year to which they relate:

2015 final dividend
2016 interim dividend
2016 final dividend
2017 interim dividend

2017
Per share
pence

–
–
21.5p
10.3p

31.8p

2016
Per share
pence

21.2p
9.5p
–
–

30.7p

The proposed final dividend in respect of 2017 amounts to 22.0 pence per share (£22,142,000). This proposed dividend is subject 
to approval at the Annual General Meeting and has not been included as a liability in these accounts.

2015 final dividend
2016 interim dividend
2016 final dividend
2017 interim dividend

2017
£’000

–
–
21,768
10,419

32,187

2016
£’000

21,326
9,610
–
–

30,936

104

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Page Title at start:Content Section at start:23. Operating leases
Non-cancellable operating lease rentals are payable as follows:

Less than one year
Between one and five years
More than five years

2017
£’000
Property

39,751
90,070
15,866

145,687

2017
£’000
Equipment

2,005
2,949
–

4,954

2017
£’000
Total

41,756
93,019
15,866

150,641

2016
£’000
Property

37,896
82,492
14,230

134,618

2016
£’000
Equipment

2,057
3,672
–

5,729

2016
£’000
Total

39,953
86,164
14,230

140,347

The Group leases the majority of its shops under operating leases. The leases typically run for a period of ten years, with an option 
to renew the lease after that date. Lease payments are generally increased every five years to reflect market rentals. For a small 
number of the leases the rental is contingent on the level of turnover achieved in the relevant unit; these amounts are immaterial.

The inception of the shop leases has taken place over a long period of time and many date back a significant number of years. They 
are combined leases of land and buildings. It is not possible to obtain a reliable estimate of the split of the fair values of the lease 
interest between land and buildings at inception. Therefore, in determining lease classification the Group evaluated whether both 
parts are clearly an operating lease or a finance lease. Firstly, title does not pass for the land or buildings. Secondly, because the 
rent paid to the landlord for the buildings is increased to market rent at regular intervals, and the Group does not participate in the 
residual value of the land or buildings it is judged that substantially all the risks and rewards of the land and buildings are with the 
landlord. Based on these qualitative factors it is concluded that the leases are operating leases.

24. Capital commitments
During the year ended 30 December 2017, the Group entered into contracts to purchase property, plant and equipment and 
intangible assets for £10,098,000 (2016: £1,268,000). These commitments are expected to be settled in the following financial year.

25. Related parties
Identity of related parties
The Group has a related party relationship with its subsidiaries (see Note 12) and its Directors and executive officers.

Trading transactions with subsidiaries – Group
There have been no transactions between the Company and its subsidiaries or associates during the year (2016: £nil).

Trading transactions with subsidiaries – Parent Company

Dormant subsidiaries

Amounts owed to related parties

Amounts owed by related parties

2017
£’000

7,807

2016
£’000

7,807

2017
£’000

–

2016
£’000

–

The Greggs Foundation is also a related party and during the year the Company made a donation to the Greggs Foundation of 
£900,000 (2016: £860,000), as well as passing on £697,000 (2016: £715,000) raised from the sale of carrier bags and £303,000  
(2016: £193,000) raised from the sale of products. The Greggs Foundation holds 300,000 shares in Greggs plc and Richard Hutton, 
a Director of Greggs plc is a trustee of the Greggs Foundation.

Transactions with key management personnel
Details of Directors’ shareholdings, share options, emoluments, pension benefits and other non-cash benefits can be found in the 
Directors’ Remuneration report on pages 54 to 69. Summary information on remuneration of key management personnel is 
included in Note 5.

26. Events after the reporting period
As noted in the financial review on page 25 the Company has, subsequent to the year end, exchanged contracts for the disposal of 
the vacant Twickenham site. The disposal is conditional on a number of factors, including the application for and successful grant of 
planning permission, none of which are expected to be resolved in the 2018 financial year, and therefore this asset continues to be 
classified as non-current. At this stage the total proceeds arising from supply chain site disposals are still expected to be in line with 
those anticipated in the investment plan. 

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

105

AccountsPage Title at start:Content Section at start:2017

960.0

7.4%

3.7%

82.2

8.6%

(9.9)

71.9

63.5

32.3

Ten-year history

TEN-YEAR HISTORY

2008

20091

20101

2011

(as restated)3

2013

(as restated)1,4

20151

2016

2012  

2014  

Turnover (£’m)

628.2

658.2

662.3

Total sales growth (%)

7.1%

4.8%

0.6%

701.1

5.8%

734.5

762.4

806.1

835.7

894.2

4.8%

3.8%

5.7%

3.7%

7.0%

company-managed shop  

like-for-like sales growth (%)

4.4%

0.8%

0.2%

1.4%

(2.7%)

(0.8%)

4.5%

4.7%

4.2%

44.3

48.4

52.4

53.0

51.3

41.5

58.1

73.1

80.3

7.1%

7.4%

7.9%

7.6%

7.0%

5.4%

7.2%

8.7%

9.0%

4.3

–

–

7.4

1.4

(8.1)

(8.5)

–

(5.2)

49.5

48.8

52.5

60.5

52.4

33.2

49.7

73.0

75.1

Earnings before interest and tax 
(EBIT) excluding exceptional 
items (£’m)

EBIT margin excluding 
exceptional items (%)

Pre-tax exceptional  
(charge)/credit (£’m)

Profit on ordinary activities 

including exceptional items 
and before tax (£’m)

Diluted earnings per share 
excluding exceptional 
items (pence)

Dividend per share (pence)2

Total shareholder return (%)

Capital expenditure (£’m)

30.6

14.9

(22%)

40.8

34.0

16.6

29%

30.3

37.3

18.2

11%

45.6

38.8

19.3

13%

59.1

38.3

19.5

(6%)

46.9

30.6

19.5

1%

47.6

43.4

22.0

70%

48.9

55.8

48.65

60.8

31.0

87.1% (23.4%)

47.4%

71.7

80.4

70.4
28.1% 26.9%

Return on capital employed

26.2% 25.9% 25.9% 24.4%

21.3% 16.4%

22.4% 26.8%

Number of shops in operation 

at year end

1,409

1,419

1,487

1,571

1,671

1,671

1,650

1,698

1,764

1,854

Notes:
1  2009 and 2014 were 53 week years, impacting on total sales growth for that year and the year immediately following.
2  All years prior to 2009 adjusted to take account of the ten-for-one share split which took place during 2009.
3  Reestated following the adoption of IAS 19 (Revised).
4  Restated to include revenue in respect of franchise fit-out costs.
5 

Includes a special dividend of 20p.

All of the non-GAAP measures detailed above can be calculated from the GAAP measures included in the annual accounts with the 
exception of those detailed below.

Calculation of alternative performance measures
Like-for-like (LFL) sales growth – compares year-on-year cash sales in our company-managed shops, excluding any shops which 
opened, relocated or closed in the current or prior year and is calculated as follows:

Current year LFL sales
Prior year LFL sales

Growth

LFL sales growth percentage

2017
£’000

817,533
788,510

29,023

3.7%

2016
£’000

777,204
745,609

31,595

4.2%

Return on capital employed – calculated by dividing profit before tax by the average total assets less current liabilities for the year.

Profit before tax

Capital employed:

Opening
Closing

Average

Return on capital employed

106

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

2017
Underlying
£’000

2017
Including 
exceptional 
items
£’000

81,807

71,945

294,536
313,340

303,938

26.9%

294,536
313,340

303,938

23.7%

2016
Underlying
£’000

80,319

277,622
294,536

286,079

28.1%

2016
Including 
exceptional items
£’000

75,142

277,622
294,536

286,079

26.3%

Page Title at start:Content Section at start:NOTES

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

107

Page Title at start:Content Section at start:NOTES

108

Greggs plc  Annual Report and Accounts 2017

Page Title at start:Content Section at start:FINANCIAL CALENDAR

Announcement of results and dividends
Late July
Half year
Early March
Full year

Dividends
Interim
Final

Mid-October
18 May 2018

Annual report posted to shareholders
Annual General Meeting

Late March
9 May 2018

SECRETARY AND ADVISERS

Secretary
Jonathan D Jowett, LL.M. Solicitor

Registered office
Greggs House
Quorum Business Park
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE12 8BU

Registered number
502851

Bankers
National Westminster Bank Plc
149 High Street
Gosforth
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE3 1HA

Auditor
KPMG LLP
Quayside House
110 Quayside
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 3DX

Stockbrokers
UBS
5 Broadgate
London
EC2M 2QS

Investec
2 Gresham Street
London
EC2V 7QP

Solicitors
Muckle LLP
Time Central
32 Gallowgate
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 4BF

Registrars
Link Asset Services
The Registry
34 Beckenham Road
Beckenham
Kent
BR3 4TU

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corporate.greggs.co.uk

Greggs plcCompany Registered Number 502851