High street trading difficulties have forced bakery chain Sayers to shut 19 of its shops across the northwest and north Wales.
Owner S&PB Retail, which also operates sister brand Poundbakery, said the move follows a comprehensive review of its store portfolio which concluded that a number of locations are no longer commercially viable.
The company confirmed that “after careful consideration”, its senior management has proposed to close 19 underperforming sites at the end of August. While a list of affected shops has yet to be released, the figure represents more than half of the current Sayers estate. It is expected to result in approximately 100 redundancies out of 800 employees at S&PB.
A statement from S&PB Retail cited a “a very difficult trading period due to a number of factors, particularly a change in customer shopping habits, which has led to a reduction of people on the high street”. Inflation on the cost of running the business also played a part, which it noted has been difficult to pass on to customers whilst also maintaining sales volumes.
“Our focus is safeguarding the future of the business, investing in our remaining 72 shops and protecting approx. 700 jobs whilst preserving our place on the high street, where we have been for 114 years,” added S&PB.
Struggles at Sayers and Poundbakery have been apparent for a number of years, with around a quarter of its estate closed in 2025 – this saw it drop from 13th to 18th in the Top 75 rankings of our Bakery Market Report 2026.
Sayers was founded in Liverpool in 1912, and at its peak operated nearly 170 shops and cafés. Poundbakery was created as a value brand in 2010. The business was then bought out of administration in 2019 by Karen Wood, with a team led by Mark James and David Silvester assuming daily management duties.
Products supplied to the Sayers and Poundbakery shops are manufactured at a site on Sidney Street in central Bolton, which is part of the David Wood Foods group.
Similar trading difficulties have forced closures of entire bakery estates such as Routledge’s in Carlisle and Coughlans Bakery in the southeast, although the majority of sites from the latter are set to be reopened under the Janes Pastry brand following an aquisition.
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