Newbury Greggs is best in the country

Northbrook Street shop beats more than 2,000 others

NEWBURY'S Greggs shop in Northbrook Street is celebrating after being crowned the ‘Best in the UK’ 2019 – beating more than 2,000 other Greggs shops in the UK.

The shop received the accolade based on their all-round performance during the past year, which includes demonstrating outstanding customer service, great standards, excellent shop sales and great teamwork.

Shop manager, Mathew Groves, said: “I’m absolutely delighted that we’ve won this title! This is a great accomplishment for our team and testament to their hard work. We’re all very proud and we will continue to do our best in providing an excellent service for our customers in Newbury.”

Now in its 10th year, shops in the chain compete to be ‘Greggs Shop of the Year’, with shops ranked on a monthly basis against several key performance criteria.

Those entering the final rounds of the competition received a series of unannounced visits by regional management teams to assess standards, with CEO Roger Whiteside and people and retail director Roisin Currie making the final judgement.

Mrs Currie said: “This is an incredible achievement by Mathew and the Newbury team. It’s obvious how much they enjoy serving their local community and how committed they are to delivering the highest operational standards consistently.

"This award celebrates the excellent retail standards the team have created. They should all be extremely proud of themselves, just as we are to have them in our business.”

The Northbrook Street store has been helping to feed rough sleepers locally.

It teamed up with Newbury Soup Kitchen to give out £10 food vouchers to rough sleepers for Greggs Bakery in Northbrook Street.

The vouchers were donated by Newbury Christadelphians, who are based in Lower Way, Thatcham.

The Christadelphians support Newbury Soup Kitchen throughout the year with other projects and donations.

Newbury Soup Kitchen founder Meryl Praill said: “Acts of kindness from organisations and groups such as Newbury Christadelphians makes such a difference to people who are in desperate need in our area.

“With the colder weather, these vouchers will give a bit more flexibility for someone in need of a hot drink or hot meal outside our usual meal sessions or other charities who open throughout the week.

“Mathew Groves, manager of the Greggs store, supports Newbury Soup Kitchen every week, organising food donations for our sessions.

“He always goes above and beyond his role as manager to help where he can.

“It is almost as if he has adopted Newbury Soup Kitchen and always checks in to see what he can do to help us.

“Now Christmas is over, it is important to remember that homelessness is not just for Christmas and the work continues all year around to help make people’s lives more bearable and to help them move forward in a positive direction.”

For more information, visit www.newburysoupkitchen.org.uk