Greggs is hit by IT glitch: Stores across Britain are forced to shut or go cash-only due
Greggs was hit by an apparent IT outage today as customers reported the bakery chain’s stores were shut across Britain due to a technical issue.
Hungry commuters reporter closures in cities including Cardiff, London, Manchester and Newcastle this morning – while others said outlets were only accepting cash.
Some bemoaned the lack of morning coffee, while there were also reports of staff baking inside stores which had temporarily ‘closed’ signs placed outside.
Greggs told MailOnline today: ‘We are currently experiencing issues accepting payments in our shops. We are working to resolve this as soon as possible.’
It is the latest IT outage to affect a major chain in recent days after technical issues affected Sainsbury’s and Tesco on Saturday and McDonald’s last Friday.
Customers say Greggs stores are shut across Britain today due to a technical issue (file image)
A customer said: ‘Hey, why are all the Greggs stores shut in Cardiff with temporarily closed signs on, but staff are inside baking? What time will they be open today?’
Another tweeted: ‘Why are all of the stores in Newcastle city centre closed?’ And a third added: ‘Greggs closed in Manchester, this could cause a riot.’
A fourth posted: ‘Greggs in Westminster closed. Problem with tills. Is this Nationwide or just local?’ And another said: ‘Greggs all closed due to technology issues.’
Other tweets included ‘all my local Greggs stores are closed because of technical issues, missing my morning coffee’ and ‘Tills down Greggs, awful start to the day.’
And someone else posted: ‘Greggs this morning cash only! Sitting here with my coffee watching almost everyone have to walk out.’
It comes after McDonald’s, Sainsbury’s and Tesco lost millions of pounds over the past week amid technical issues.
Tesco and Sainsbury’s were both hit with unrelated problems on Saturday which saw them both apologise to angry customers who were left without orders.
And that came one day after McDonald’s also said sorry to customers last Friday after they were unable to order food due to an IT system outage in its restaurants.
Sainsbury’s shoppers could not make contactless payments following an overnight software update and the firm could not fulfil the ‘vast majority’ of online deliveries.
Meanwhile, Tesco had to cancel some online orders due for delivery on Saturday – although it is understood that only a small proportion of these were impacted.
Retail experts warned that the IT issues highlighted ‘the fragility of growing dependence on digital infrastructure’ amid concerns more firms could be hit.
While a total figure has not been given on the cost of the outages, the Telegraph estimated that Sainsbury’s orders worth up to £9million could have been affected.