GREGGS is accelerating its plans to roll out the North East bakery brand to the rest of the UK after announcing a 25th consecutive year of growing dividends for shareholders.

The Newcastle plc, which plans to open 50 to 60 more shops this year as it speeds towards a target of 2,000 outlets, has revealed a 5% jump in sales to £658m and an 8% rise in profits to £48.8m in the 53 weeks to January 23.

Chief executive Ken McMeikan said: “We’ve previously stated more than 50% of the UK population can’t get to a Greggs. We remain very positive about opportunities of opening more.

“We will start to accelerate this. We’re not quite at the limit yet in the North East. There is still an opportunity for growth in the North East, but I would see it as being a small number of shops in the North East this year.

“We have to be innovative in the type of shops. But if we find opportunities like the one we opened at Newcastle University or industrial locations where people work, they will be real opportunities for us. However, they are slightly more difficult to find [than high street shops].”

The region has also benefited from Greggs’ efforts to reorganise the supply chain and structure during 2009, which included moving from 11 bakery divisions to seven retail regions and pulling out of the loss-making Belgian market.