Bread: The Story of Greggs

by Ian Gregg

When Ian Gregg was just a boy he joined his father at work selling pies from his van to miners’ wives around Newcastle. Now retired, he can look back on a business that began as a husband-and-wife team in the 1930s, and survived a world war and two major recessions to become our favourite bakery, beloved by everyone from children to office workers to soldiers overseas.Ian Gregg led the family firm as it grew, employing generations of families from around Newcastle and then becoming a public company with bakeries in Scotland and across the North, and now with shops on every high street. This is a story of extraordinary success, but it is also a triumphant tale of how doing right by your people makes for great business. Bucking every trend, Greggs have always put their customers, employees and local communities before quick profits for directors and shareholders. Their astounding record of charitable works includes hardship grants, an environment fund, sponsorship of the North East Children’s Cancer run and over £1 million raised annually for Children in Need.Ian Gregg will donate all of his royalties and Greggs plc will donate all its profits from the sale of this book to the Greggs Foundation to help fund more Breakfast Clubs for children.

Genres: Nonfiction

370 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 11, 2013

Reviews

[Aurélien Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read this only because I used to work for Greggs (in one of their main bakeries first, then in one of their warehouses).

Greggs, for whose not living in the UK, is one of the main pastries-selling in Britain (now also selling coffees and take away sandwiches, to keep up with some competitors and gain new markets). As I remember, it used to employ more than 20,000 people across 1,600 shops alone. It's a big business, then, one which reflects a spectacular rise told here by one of its main architects -Ian Greggs. Ian Gregg, in fact, used to be a lawyer who gave up on his career so as to take upon the business of his parents, a small local bakery opened back in the 1930s around Newcastle. Decades after decades, he turned it into the immense commercial and financial success it now is.

What about this book, then?

Well, such a story is of course interesting in itself. What is striking, though, is the ethos he embodied and which is being put forth in here. Being first and foremost a family affair, Ian Gregg wanted indeed such business to reflect family values -respect, solidarity, accountability. These were embodied not only in how Greggs used to treat its employees, suppliers, and customers, but, also, via its engagement with various charitable projects, both local and national, besides having its own (the Greggs Charitable Trust). Ian Gregg, in a word, incarnated this form of capitalism as it ought (maybe?) to be: the product of entrepreneurs surely making a considerable buck, but, nevertheless, still at the service of their community and putting the interest of individuals before an absurd race for profits.

All in all, it's quite good. The whole surely lacks a bit of warmth; his style being quite monotonous as, a reserved man himself, it's pretty clear that the author is not the kind to display his private life into the public arena (a problem when retelling your life story!), but his vision is remarkable enough to deserve attention. It let itself being read with pleasure. Funnily enough, he even offers some British and traditional recipes for pastries; a nice little bonus for the interested reader. The question is: what about Greggs now?

Well, it has now turned into a profit-making machine fighting within a highly competitive food industry, and that the poor man would certainly not recognised! They went public back in the 1990s. Nothing wrong with that (Ian Gregg actually retells the episode) but over time it surely led to a complete change of perspective and philosophy that, I bet, he didn't plan at all. He wrote this from a personal angle; but I read it from a personal angle too, and, personally, if I have very good memories working at Greggs, I nevertheless had to leave the bakery when my job was replaced by machines/ robots, then went to work in one of their warehouses where the job was as unchallenging and brutish as in any other warehouses (let alone as badly paid!), and, so, ended up moving on with no regret whatsoever. So, again, this story makes for a nice read, but it's a snapshot of a time long gone, as are the like of Ian Gregg himself when it comes to business and social responsibilities.

A nostalgic read?

[Stuart Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since this was written by a member of the family which founded the company, Ian Gregg, who headed the company for many years, I feared that it could be a bland account claiming a history of consistent success. Thankfully that isn't the case as Gregg produced a narrative which skillfully combined autobiography, social history and corporate history.

I enjoyed the opening chapters the most as it was interesting to see how a large corporation emerged from modest beginnings. Greggs catered to a mainly working class clientele from the start. Interestingly, Mondays were not a practical day on which to make deliveries as every family would have done their washing that day which was then draped across narrow terraced streets, preventing access to vehicles. Eventually the first store was acquired in the suburb of Gosforth which formed the foundation of the company we know today.

The book goes on to explain how the company expanded into other cities beginning with Glasgow and Manchester by the acquisition of other bakeries which were failing businesses at the time. The history of the company is charted from the industrial unrest they faced in the 1970s to their current strategy in attempting to deal with a perfect storm of rising commodity prices, increased competition and falling incomes for their clients. Eventually the book becomes overly concerned with recounting who was appointed to the board and how the corporate structure was reorganised and the company rationalised to take on a single nationwide identity. I would have liked to have read more about how the company actually works in terms of how new products are launched, what an average day in one of their stores is like etc. There was also a degree of repetition which called out for better editing.

The book concludes with a chapter critical of what Gregg sees as irresponsible capitalism including excessive executive pay unrelated to company performance. All very well, but since he doesn't discuss executive salaries at Greggs at all it is difficult to come to a conclusion about whether they are different to the norm in this respect. He does stress that he believes employees at lower levels of the company should be well paid but offers no information on salary levels or how these compare with those offered by Greggs' competitors. I also felt Gregg's suggestion that voters can make a difference by voting for political parties which support green agendas, community issues and curbing excesses in the city naive. In the UK the three main political parties are all commited to neoliberalism and with a first past the post electoral system a vote for an alternative party is effectively a wasted vote.

On the whole an interesting narrative which was well written, informative and at times amusing. Certainly worth a look if you would like to know more about Greggs.

[Luke Nyland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the most spell-binding read, but a nice glimpse into the history of a business with humble beginnings. I think the "Story of Greggs" might be a little bit of a stretch for the title, as the author admits he doesn't actually know too much of the early days, but certainly the latter chapters!

Nice to have a bit of history on the brain when tucking into a steak bake

[Angelina Souren · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read.

[Tim Chisholm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great insight into Greggs and how they have spread across the UK.

[nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just like their food excellent

A lot of behind the scenes and strategy are employed. Not what to do but what happened and how greggs navigated. Good journey to take with them

[Rob Mead · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting micro history of Newcastle retail, followed by a forgettable business retelling

[Lisa Bennett · Rating 1 out of 5]

OMG i can't believe i spent a fiver on this book. its totally crap. a complete bore fest. i got so bored i had to close it a third of the way in and start something else. i was fooled into thinking it would be interesting and funny, but it was full of facts and figures. total yawn. my only consolation is that my money went to charity!

[Paul Narloch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Make mine a steak bake. Apologies to next reader of this book at Easterhouse library who found crumbs between the pages. Tasty but processed.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

This took me almost a year to get through. It's got some good bits in it, and is generally quite interesting, but it's not an easy read.

[Sam McBratney · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent insight into a much-maligned company. Thoroughly enjoyed the insights and inspired by the values.