Goldilocks weather cheers baker

Goldilocks weather - neither too hot, nor too stormy - has helped baker Greggs trumpet record sales growth.

The baker, which owns 1,100 Greggs and Bakers Oven outlets, prepared investors for a sales rise of 9% over the last six months of 2001.

The firm credited "particularly favourable" weather for the rise.

"If there are gales and heavy rain, people stay at home, which is not good for our type of business," a spokesman told BBC News Online.

"If it is too hot, that puts people off bakery products.

"What we saw was that it did not rain unduly, nor was it unreasonably hot."

High numbers of people on the High Street, as reflected in the UK's strong retail sales data, also boosted trade, the spokesman added.

However the firm is continuing to suffer a hangover from the torrential rain at the end of 2000.

Poor grain harvests blamed on the storms have pushed up flour prices, and will partly offset the effects of the sales rise, the spokesman said.

In the City, shares in Greggs stood 65p higher at 3127.5p in midday trade on Tuesday.

The stock has rebounded from a level of 1507.5p hit in February 2000.