THOUSANDS of bakery workers will receive a cash windfall as a North-East empire revels in strong customer demand.

Greggs says staff will share £6.4m after the pie and pasty maker saw total sales increase to £804m for the year to January 3.

Roger Whiteside, Greggs’ chief executive, said part-time workers will receive between £100 and £500, with full-timers expecting a bonus of up to £1,000 in their March pay packet.

A share of about £1,000 could buy a member of the firm’s 20,000-strong workforce nearly 800 of its sausage rolls.

Mr Whiteside said the Newcastle-based company was continuing to benefit from leaving behind its traditional bread-making roots to focus on the lucrative convenience market, which includes fresh sandwiches, pizzas, soups, and sees customers spend £1m a week on its coffee range.

He also re-affirmed an aim to revive previous expansion plans, which would see Greggs extend its presence from 1,650 outlets to 2,000, including more sites on retail parks and motorway services, where it already works with operators Moto and Euro Garages.

However, Mr Whiteside told The Northern Echo he was not looking to follow his predecessor Ken McMeikan, who eyed international growth after a short-lived ten-store Belgian experiment ended in a hasty retreat in 2008.

He said: “We’ve had a year of exceptional progress, helped by more favourable economic conditions and better weather, and are confident we can deliver another year of growth.

“Our plan is working and we are sticking to it; the first rule with any plan is not to change it if it’s doing well.

“We are also sharing our success with staff, which is something we do in the good years and the bad, and people are excited about it.

“We will still be UK-based in our growth.

“We have opened stores in Jersey, so in some respects we are starting to creep off the UK mainland, but in reality the focus of the plan is the UK.”

The company saw own like-for-like sales rise 4.5 per cent last year, with pre-tax profits up 41.1 per cent to £58.3m.

Mr Whiteside said it will next week increase its focus on breakfast products, such as omelettes, baguettes and porridge, to strengthen its grip on the early morning commuter market.

He said it was working on new products and flavours to maintain sales, and singled out its coffee lines as a significant area for growth.

The former Marks and Spencer food halls boss also confirmed Greggs will continue to look at sites away from the high street to attract custom.

He added: “There is a long way to go on coffee; we know it is right and once people are aware of what they can get in our meals deals, more will switch over, we are sure of it.

“The high street is very important for us, but we are reshaping the estate.

“At the moment, the ratio is 80 per cent high street and 20 per cent non-high street, but that will change to about 60 high street and 40 elsewhere.”

The company was founded in the 1930s when John Robson Gregg sold eggs and yeast from his bicycle, and employs about 400 workers in its regional head office.