Briefs

n Bakery chain Greggs plans to trial keeping shops open until the early hours to tempt people coming out of pubs and clubs. The company said in a statement: "Late night opening will offer a new opportunity and we intend to trial the concept in a number of locations, starting with the Sunderland area."

n In the latest poll on British Baker’s [http://www.bakeryinfo.co.uk] website, some 36% of respondents said they believed freshly made sandwiches were the best way to draw customers into bakery shops, followed by friendly staff and hot drinks, both at 20%.

Seating and toilet facilities were seen as the most important factor by 9% of participants, followed by quality drinks (4%) and internet access (2%).

n Subway has announced it will roll out deep-dish-style personal pizzas to its 13,000-plus sites in the US, after years of in-store trials. The company is to start installing high-speed commercial ovens across its US estate.

n Latest research from Mintel shows sales of chilled desserts, like cream cakes, cheesecakes and trifle, have increased by 40% since 2001, to reach just over £390 million in 2006.

n Portadown based Irwin’s Bakery scooped the Excellence in Marketing Achievement accolade at the 2007 Belfast Telegraph Northern Ireland Business Awards.

n Will readers who know James Thomas Foreman please contact British Baker on 01293 846 591. Known as Jim Foreman - ’the man with the bowtie’ - he worked in the industry for over 40 years for firms including Betabake, Wonderloaf, British Arkady and SRS Puratos.