Northern Ireland will soon lose another of its Greggs stores, as a Belfast branch is set to close this weekend.
Greggs, on Royal Avenue, will shut its doors on Saturday, signposting customers to neighbouring branches. The store is now without a number of its usual items, as it prepares for closure.
Information notices placed around the shop explain that the store will close on Saturday, October 22. It read: "Sorry, we're closing. Your nearest shop is 4/6 Castle Lane Belfast, BT1 5DA."
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On Wednesday morning, a staff member confirmed that the closure is permanent.
It comes as Northern Ireland’s takeaway industry continues to plead for government support. In just three months Northern Ireland’s takeaway industry has seen more than 100 businesses close and hundreds lose jobs, according to the Takeaway Association.
Chief Executive of the trade body, Michael Henderson said the losses from July of this year were due to the tidal wave of increased costs ranging from Energy bills, food costs, VAT increase and reintroduction of the highest business rates in the UK.
"The latest unemployment raise is a stark reminder of the issues facing our small businesses during this cost of doing business crisis,” he said.
“We outlined in February that our industry was in crisis and support was needed to help save small businesses. Unfortunately these warnings were ignored, and this has led us to the devastating amount of closures we see today.
“The loss of 100+ takeaways/cafes in recent months adds more pressure on the cost-of-living crisis for the employees recently made redundant.”
He said his organisation is being contacted by distressed people.
“We are receiving heart-breaking calls every day from business owners across all backgrounds who are struggling and fighting to hold on to their business which they have worked tirelessly to create.”
The Takeaway Association believes that there is an urgent need for support as the industry stares into an abyss with more closures to come.
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