Greggs to close all 2,050 branches in the UK due to coronavirus

The high street bakery chain, which employs 25,000 staff, says that the temporary shut down is to protect customers and employees from contracting and spreading the virus.

Just after the Greggs announcement, KFC revealed it will close all its branches by Wednesday.

Greggs had already stopped customers from going into stores, offering take away service instead, following the government ordered all pubs, restaurants and cafes to close on Friday night.

Staff will continued to get paid for full contracted hours "for as long as is practicable" with the support from the government's coronavirus job retention scheme.

This will see up to 80 per cent of wages paid by the government via a grant to employers.

The high street favourite has also promised to donate any remaining unsold food to local communities, and will be offering support for those in hardship through the Greggs Foundation.

It said that a drop in sales has also lead to the closure of stores having seen a 9.9 per cent decline over the past week, since social distancing rules were introduced.

But it added that while customers at branches in transport hubs, central London and other city centres were steering clear of the stores, those in suburban areas saw "the lowest levels of decline".

The bakery chain is making plans for the closures to last between six weeks and three months, estimates that it will cost the firm £45million in cash outgoings by the end of the year.

As a result of the closures, it will be deferring any new shop openings and planned refurbishments until the true impact the coronavirus outbreak has on the business.

To avoid going buts, Greggs has also asked landlords to accept monthly rental payments rather than quarterly payments to help it stay afloat.

Chief executive Roger Whiteside said that the government's decision to suspend business rates for a year and its job retention scheme will be "essential for any consumer-facing business at this time."

He added: "Whilst the outlook during this crisis remains uncertain Greggs is a resilient business with strong growth credentials and we should be confident of its ability to navigate this event and return to growth when the economy recovers."

Yesterday, McDonald's announced that it would be closing down all its UK restaurants from 7pm tonight.

Nando's, Costa and Next followed suit today, announcing that they would also temporarily shut up shop.

Here's a list of all retailers that will be temporarily closing during the coronavirus outbreak.