Bakers Oven was a British bakery chain. In May 1994, it was acquired by

Greggs Greggs plc is a British bakery chain. It specialises in savoury products such as bakes, sausage rolls, sandwiches and sweet items including doughnuts and vanilla slices. It is headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is listed on t ...

; in December 2008, the shops of Bakers Oven were renamed as Greggs.

History

Bakers Oven was founded by Allied Bakeries in 1976, and its first location was in

Barnard Castle Barnard Castle (, ) is a market town on the north bank of the River Tees, in County Durham, Northern England. The town is named after and built around a medieval castle ruin. The town's Bowes Museum's has an 18th-century Silver Swan automato ...

. In 1984, the company acquired the sixty four outlets of Carricks of Newcastle, and converted them to Bakers Oven. In March 1990, there were 628 outlets and four main bakeries.Greggs buys Baker's Oven , Herald Scotland
/ref> In May 1994, it was sold to Greggs for £18.5 million in cash."Greggs buys chain." Times ondon, England28 May 1994: 22. The transaction included 424 shops and two main bakeries, one in Twickenham, and one in Newcastle. The majority of outlets of Bakers Oven were located in the

South of England Southern England, or the South of England, also known as the South, is an area of England consisting of its southernmost part, with cultural, economic and political differences from the Midlands and the North. Officially, the area includes Gr ...

, whilst most Greggs outlets were in the North, so the property portfolios were complementary.ABF rises on Baker's Oven sell-off plan The Observer (1901–2003) ondon (UK)10 April 1994: A2. 20% of stores were freehold. Both chains had sales of around £100 million, but Greggs was significantly more profitable. 169 Bakers Oven outlets had in store bakeries, and 170 outlets provided seating. After the takeover by Greggs, shops of Bakers Oven coexisted with Greggs, offering higher quality at higher prices, and focussing on a higher socio economic demographic. The 2007 ''Retail Directory'' stated that were 216 outlets of Bakers Oven.

Rebranding to Greggs

On 9 December 2008, Greggs announced that Bakers Oven South and Midlands divisions would fully merge with Greggs plc. All 165 shops of Bakers Oven became Greggs, forming the division of ''Greggs East''.

References

External links

Official site
{{UK Food Retail companies of the United Kingdom Bakeries of the United Kingdom Food and drink companies disestablished in 2008 Companies based in Newcastle upon Tyne 1976 establishments in England Food and drink companies established in 1976 British companies established in 1976 British companies disestablished in 2008