Greggs to open first NI drive-thru in Craigavon
Bakery behemoth Greggs has launched plans for its first drive-thru restaurant in Northern Ireland.
The drive-thru unit will be located Craigavon’s Marlborough Retail Park in Co Armagh after plans were submitted to Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council.
According to the plans, permission is being sought for a drive-thru unit with outdoor seating, next to the existing Burger King restaurant on the site.
The plans lodged with the local authority list the English company, which is known for its delicious sausage rolls, as the intended occupier of the new unit.
Last year, Greggs unveiled expansion plans, which included trialling a new 24-hour drive-thru, following a record high for sales.
At the time the chain did not confirm if its expansion plans would extend to Northern Ireland.
Greggs will join fast food brand Burger King and coffee giant Starbucks which already have drive-thrus at Marlborough Retail Park.
A supporting statement submitted on behalf of Turkington Properties said that the Craigavon retail park has undergone “significant redevelopment and investment” in recent years.
The retail park, which is next to Rushmere Shopping Centre and Craigavon’s Tesco superstore, recently secured a number of new tenants including Airtastic Entertainment, M&S Food, Home Bargains and O’Neills Sports.
The application submitted seeks an amendment to a previously approved restaurant unit.
The supporting statement said that “the proposal represents an amendment to the third food and beverage unit, a restaurant pod”, for the Marlborough Retail Park site, and would “provide a drive-thru, to be occupied by Greggs”.
According to the statement, the size of the unit will be reduced from 325 sq m to around 185 sq m.
It will be set within a single storey building and will include seating for around 31 people inside, with 29 car parking spaces.
The chain already has nearly 2,330 shops across the UK, including 17 stores in Northern Ireland.
Last year it revealed that total sales hit a record high of £1.5bn in 2022, up by nearly a quarter on the previous year.
