High avenue Greggs rival vulnerable to nationwide shut down as HMRC takes it to courtroom
A high street bakery chain and rival to the bakery behemoth of Greggs is at risk of leaving the high streets as HMRC launches legal proceedings which could take baked goods off the shelves forever
A high street bakery chain rivalling the bakery behemoth of Greggs in some parts of the country is at risk of going bust.
Wenzel’s bakery chain is at risk of leaving high streets forever after HMRC launched legal proceedings which could run the risk of taking the bakery’s good off the shelves forever.
This development is the first step of the court-ordered liquidation process – this could mean the bakery chain could face high street closure if an agreement is not reached with the taxman. Wenzel’s currently has more than 100 stores in the UK mainly located around London and the Home Counties.
Wenzel’s insists it expects the matter to be resolved shortly and the firm “does not expect any redundancies or store closures”.
HMRC’s petition was issued due to the bakery business having large amounts of unpaid debt currently but no court date has been set. Last year the firm announced plans to expand by opening new stores across southern England.
However, since this ambitious announcement the food franchise had a massive £4million decrease in profits, reports Mail.
In 2023 Wenzel’s made a handsome profit of £5.6million, however, sadly this success was not sustainable as the company’s profit dropped drastically to £1.6million in 2024. Since these numbers were published three directors have left the food firm.
Wenzel’s has not submitted its latest annual report and financial statements. The firm has until March 31, 2025, to release the numbers.
Chief Operating Officer at Wenzel’s Karl Spinks said: “The winding up notice is in relation to ongoing discussions with HMRC regarding an outstanding balance, however we are actively engaged with HMRC and expect this matter to be resolved shortly. We do not expect any redundancies, we do not expect any store closures.”
A spokesperson for HMRC has said: “We take a supportive approach to dealing with customers who have tax debts and only file winding-up petitions once we’ve exhausted all other options, in order to protect taxpayers’ money.”
Wenzel’s is not the only bakery business suffering turbulent times at the moment. The franchise’s biggest rival Greggs has seen their shares fall sharply at the beginning of this month.
The bakery behemoth saw shares fall by 10.6% to 1,861p, resulting in its 2025 losses to around 33%, despite making £204million in profit.
Greggs has labelled weak consumer confidence and poor weather for the measly 1.7% growth in the first nine weeks of 2024.
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