Bakery giant Greggs is planning to expand into Northern Ireland with as many as 50 locations in the coming years, 10 in Belfast alone.
With 1,670 stores in Britain, Greggs is yet to fully venture into Northern Ireland. The closest it has got is at the Applegate service station near Templepatrick where it opened a store earlier this year.
As reported in the Belfast Telegraph, it is understood that commercial property firm Savills has been appointed to scout locations across Northern Ireland. Savills however did not confirm this.
And whilst Greggs also did not confirm the new openings, a spokesperson said: 'We continue to view Belfast and Northern Ireland as an attractive market.
'We currently have one franchise shop open and continue to look for good opportunities to develop our estate.'
Greggs is the UK’s largest bakery chain and employs around 10 people per store. This means if the expansion to Northern Ireland does go ahead, it will potentially create 500 new jobs.