Planet Doughnut has revealed ambitious plans to open six new stores over the next three months.
The Shropshire-based bakery, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary, cut the ribbon on its sixth store in Lichfield in December, adding to its outlets in Chester, Nantwich, Shrewsbury, Telford and Warrington. The success of the current stores has spurred the company’s owners, husband-and-wife team Duncan and Samantha McGregor, into rolling out more openings.
However, Planet Doughnut’s ambitions extend well beyond new stores planned in Rugeley, Worcester, Bromsgrove, St Helens, Burton Upon Trent and Newcastle under Lyme, as the business aims to have more than 50 outlets in operation by the end of 2025. The company’s plans also include a new concept called Planet Dessert in addition to its self-run doughnut decorating workshops.
“When we started five years ago, we though our little turquoise fronted shop in Shrewsbury would be our lot, but support for our family business even through coronavirus has been amazing,” said Samantha McGregor.
“With consumer demand for our freshly made vegan and classic doughnuts skyrocketing we’ve beefed up our retail offering which is currently over 75 independent stockists across the West Midlands and Cheshire, to include a trial run in selected Mid Counties Co-ops all over England. We created our striking turquoise Dough & Go stands so more people can experience our range of over 75 Planet Doughnut flavours,” McGregor added.
The company currently employs approximately 100 members of staff and is looking into the possibility of opening a second centralised bakery to help grow its operation. The business moved to its current production base in May 2021 after receiving £114,800 from the Marches Building Investment Grant (MBIG).
The MBIG programme, which is delivered by Herefordshire Council, offers grants of up to £150,000 to help meet the cost of building new premises or extending and reconfiguring existing ones. It is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and supported by the Marches LEP and Marches Growth Hub.
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