Will vegan sausage rolls be back on the menu as Greggs set to reopen?

Floor markings, protective clothes for staff and screens at counters to protect against coronavirus spreading at Greggs Picture: Greggs/PA Wire (Image: Copyright 2020. All rights reserved.)

The sandwich chain is set to reopen 800 more stores from Thursday, with the remaining 1,000 set to open by early July.

The company, which has a number of stores across the county, has unveiled a new look with floor markings, protective clothes for staff and screens at counters among their measures to protect against coronavirus spreading.

There will also be a reduced menu to ensure social distancing in kitchens and workspaces.

The company has not revealed which stores will be opening this week.

Greggs had been allowed to stay open throughout the lockdown, offering takeaway and delivery services.

But bosses declined, saying it felt remaining open would compromise the safety of its employees.

The company said: “We are not able to predict the impact of social distancing on our ability to trade or on customer demand.

“However, our capacity to operate will be restricted by size of shop and we must anticipate that sales may be lower than normal for some time.

“This will require us to maintain a proportion of our colleagues on furlough, either fully or partially, until sales levels begin returning to normal.

“In anticipation of lower sales, we have limited our initial product range to our best sellers and therefore a number of our manufacturing operational teams will remain furloughed until demand reaches a level that justifies the addition of remaining product lines.”

Chief executive Roger Whiteside said: “Looking forward, although great uncertainty remains, we are excited to be resuming our service for many customers this week.

“We are confident of our ability to adapt to market conditions in the short term while continuing to invest in the long-term growth of our business.”