“Sometimes it feels that second class is literally the last thing that Royal Mail look at, in preference to parcels, but a lot of people use second class, a lot of online retailers use second class, because it is an affordable option for both us and the customer.”
Greggs is launching a chicken version of its customer-favourite sausage and vegan rolls, a permanent addition to the chain’s menu.
The Chicken Roll – described by the high street baker as “seasoned chicken wrapped in layers of crisp, golden, glazed puff pastry” – contains 305 calories and will cost £1.35 when it goes on sale on Thursday.
It joins the Sausage Roll, which has been a Greggs staple since the 1950s, and the Vegan Roll, which was introduced in 2019.
To celebrate the final launch of the “trilogy”, Greggs is allowing customers the chance to be among the first to taste the new roll with a 20-minute slot between 3.30pm and 9pm on Wednesday (8 April) at a pop-up location at 15 Bateman Street, in London’s Soho.
Places will be given on a first-come, first-served basis but, in a nod to the trilogy theme, guests must arrive as part of a trio of friends or family.
Attendees can pair their three complimentary rolls with a free chicken-themed cocktail or mocktail.
Greggs’ new Chicken Roll, centre, with the Sausage Roll, left, and Vegan Roll, right (Greggs/PA Wire)
A Greggs spokeswoman said: “They say the best things come in threes, and our iconic roll trilogy is no exception.
“We can’t wait for our customers to experience the Chicken Roll as the ultimate headline act of our flaky franchise.”
It also told shareholders that total sales grew by 6.8 per cent to £2.15 billion over the year, with like-for-like growth buoyed by its continued store opening programme.
Greggs said it had 121 net store openings in 2025, expanding its shop estate to 2,739 locations by the end of the year.
It is targeting around 120 further openings this year as it highlighted ambitions to grow to “significantly more than 3,000 UK shops over longer term”.
A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said doctors had been offered a “generous deal”, which coincided with the government accepting the recommendations of the independent pay review body that all doctors, including resident doctors, previously known as junior doctors, should get a 3.5% pay rise from this month.
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DHAKA, Bangladesh — Bangladesh is conducting emergency measles-rubella vaccinations while trying to contain an ongoing outbreak that has killed more than 100 children in less than a month.
The government in partnership with the World Health Organization, the U.N. children’s agency and the Gavi vaccine alliance began working to vaccinate children age 6 months to 5 years old in 18 high-risk districts Sunday and will expand nationwide in phases from next month, a joint statement said.
A UNICEF official said the agency was deeply concerned about the sharp rise in cases, which was putting the youngest and most vulnerable children at serious risk. “This resurgence highlights critical immunity gaps, particularly among zero-dose and under-vaccinated children, while infections among infants under nine months, who are not yet eligible for routine vaccination, are especially alarming,” said Rana Flowers, the agency’s representative in Bangladesh.
More than 900 cases of measles have been confirmed among 7,500 suspected cases reported since March 15, according to the official data in the South Asian nation of more than 170 million people.
Measles is a highly contagious airborne disease causing fever, respiratory symptoms and a characteristic rash and can sometimes have severe or fatal complications, especially in young children, according to WHO.
Vaccination is crucial to preventing the spread of measles, but the WHO says 95% of the population has to be vaccinated in order to stop the disease from spreading.
Bangladesh’s Health Minister Sardar Mohammed Sakhawat Husain responding to questions in Parliament said Monday that the new outbreak was caused by the mismanagement and failures of past governments.
He said the previous government of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and an interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus failed to make proper decisions regarding vaccine stockpiles, causing shortages affecting vaccines for measles and six other diseases.
The vaccination campaign for measles was disrupted during Bangladesh’s recent political upheavals. Hasina was ousted in a mass uprising in 2024, and Yunus led an interim administration that transferred power to an elected government after an election in February.
Authorities are advising parents to go to hospitals whenever someone is suspected to have measles.
““They should avoid taking medicine from shopkeepers unnecessarily. If a child has a fever, especially high fever — 101, 102, 3, 4 (Fahrenheit, or higher than 38.3 Celsius) — they should not rely on medicine from local shops,” said F. A. Asma Khan, deputy director of the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Dhaka.
“Instead, they must take the child to a hospital as soon as possible, because our medical officers are capable of providing proper basic treatment,” she said.
Since the launch of a massive immunization campaign in 1979, Bangladesh has made remarkable progress — raising the coverage of fully immunized children from just 2% to 81.6%.
But UNICEF warned last year that while Bangladesh has made strong strides to increase immunization coverage, stark disparities persist.