Retail bakery chain Cooks the Bakery has revealed it currently has 100 outlets, down from 121 at the start of the year.

The company, formerly Three Cooks, had 158 shops when it went into administration in November 2006. Chairman Geoff Peppiatt bought 121 of the shops from administrators, renaming the business Cooks the Bakery.

He said he has put a store refurbishment project and a roll-out of a new-look ’Cooks’ fascia on hold.

Instead, he was "concentrating on other areas of the business", he told British Baker. He declined to give details, but indicated that these include special projects, such as a healthy canteen partnership at a comprehensive school in Maidenhead, which Cooks introduced in September 2006.