Mr Darrington goes back to the floor

The sausage roll and sandwich merchant, which has 1,200 shops across the UK, has succesfully tapped into the takeaway snack market, as its traditional bread and roll business withers.

The firm's egg and bacon breakfast bake has proved a particular hit with customers, it said.

Greggs also plans to sell more buns to the Belgians, with further store openings planned there this year.

Shares slide

Strong demand for pre-packed sandwiches and drinks helped boost Greggs profits by 11% to £36.7m.

But the figures proved hard to swallow in the City, where Greggs shares eased 1.2% to 3025 after an initial surge.

The company said annual sales were up 6.4% on a like-for-like basis, stripping out the effect of new store openings.

Last year, Greggs completed a programme to create a cohesive national brand with the renaming of its 50 Birketts shops in Cumbria.

It has set its sights on further growth and is aiming to add 45 new shops to its total this year.

Convenience

Managing director Mike Darrington said: "Our bread business is very important to us but in terms of convenience the supermarkets have got a competitive edge over us in terms of bread and rolls.

"But we have got convenience for the takeaway foods because people don't want to get in their cars and drive three miles to get a sandwich.