Greggs sausage rolls have been spotted peeking out of bags and pockets in Primark window displays up and down the country, leaving some people wondering what the hell the retailer is up to.
Now, all has been revealed after it emerged yesterday that the fast-fashion chain is teaming up with none other than high street bakery Greggs for a first-of-its-kind collaboration.
Yes, believe it or not, the two appear to be releasing a fashion collection inspired by Greggs’ most popular baked goods. Sausage roll hoodies, steak bake t-shirts and maybe even a tuna crunch baguette could soon become must-have fashion items (we jest, but who knows).
In 2022, we can say with some confidence that weirder things have already happened. Satire is definitely dead, though.
The high street bakery’s fashion collection will go on sale at 60 stores up and down the country, including at several Primark stores in Manchester.
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Due to launch to the public from 19 February, it is set to feature 11 different items including hoodies featuring the Greggs logo and a message reading “It’s a pastry thing” printed down one arm.
The company’s social media team teased the news out on Twitter, sharing a promo video online for what was referred to as a “freshly baked collab”.
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The bakery chain also announced it would be opening its biggest ever Greggs cafe inside Primark’s flagship store in Birmingham on 12 February.
The imaginatively named ‘Tasty by Greggs’ will seat 130 covers and offer all its usual customer favourites such as sausage rolls, steak bakes, pizza slices and a selection of sweet treats.
A boutique pop-up showcasing the new clothing designs will also launch separately in Soho, London, on 17 and 18 February.
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okay so either i’m having hunger hallucinations, or there is an actual @GreggsOfficial sausage roll in the window of Primark in Newcastle??? pic.twitter.com/WZKJhH3sZq
Visits here, however, will be strictly by invitation only – perhaps due to the fact that London is the only city in the UK that prefers Pret to Greggs, according to very important research conducted by Monzo.
Responses to the news online have been mixed, with some people very excited and others claiming they thought it must be a wind-up.
One said, “I am ashamed about my enthusiasm for this.”
Another wrote, “Is it April 1st?”
Whilst a third added, “If there’s Greggins I’ll be pissed! Won’t be better than the original though.”
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If there’s Greggins I’ll be pissed! Won’t be better than the original though 💙🧡 pic.twitter.com/UFG7SwEVfm
The appetite for Greggs in the UK is, apparently, insatiable with the high street bakery brand achieving cult status amongst groups of all ages.
A nail artist Leeds achieved viral fame last year after creating her own Greggs-inspired nail art, complete with a tiny hanging sausage roll, whilst others have flocked to Twitter to share their own Greggs creations.
One user shared a pair of logo-emblazoned ‘Greggins’, another a set of Greggs-related band tees.
Suffice to say, creating Greggs merch is not a new idea – just up until now, it’s mostly been a DIY activity. We guess it’s just a pastry thing.
Life-saving defibrillators to be installed on dozens of trains travelling through Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
Life-saving defibrillators are set to be installed on dozens of trains travelling through Greater Manchester.
Rail operator TransPennine Express (TPE) has started work to install the units on all 51 of its Class 185 trains over the next two months, and can be used by both staff and passengers if someone goes into cardiac arrest.
The defibrillators will be fitted by technology company Siemens Mobility, and will be located in an emergency equipment cupboard in the middle of the train.
Every defibrillator being installed on the trains has step-by-step, spoken word instructions built in to them, which explain how to use on someone in an emergency, so passengers and staff need not panic if they’re unsure what to do.
Computers inside the defibrillators will work to analyse a person’s heart rhythms to find out if an electric shock is needed, and if required, electrodes then automatically deliver the shock.
⚡Work has started to fit defibrillators across more than 50 TransPennine Express trains
🚆 The life-saving units will be installed on all 51 of our Class 185 trains by the end of March
The defibrillators – which are already installed on TPE’s Nova 1 trains – have been purchased from the British Heart Foundation charity, which is the biggest independent funder of heart and circulatory research in the UK.
The news that the defibrillators are being installed on trains travelling through Greater Manchester and across the UK come after it was announced back in 2023 that the machines were being installed at more than 100 Northern stations to help save people in cardiac arrest.
Speaking on the installing of the defibrillators on trains, Bushra Khan, who is the Head of Engineering at TransPennine Express, said: “Our defibrillators are a huge benefit to both our customers and the communities we serve.
“This rollout will ensure that people travelling on our services will feel safe and confident that defibrillators are available to help in the event of an emergency, potentially saving lives.”
Featured Image – TPE
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One of Manchester’s oldest surviving Victorian mills to be repurposed into ‘distinctive’ rental homes
Emily Sergeant
A multi-million funding deal has been agreed to repurpose one of Manchester’s oldest surviving Victorian mills.
After £55 million plans to reimagine Talbot Mill into a 10-storey apartment block began back in May of last year, social impact developers Capital&Centric have now agreed a £37 million deal with Paragon Bank to finance the restoration of the historic mill and repurpose it into 190 new distinctive properties for rent.
Built in 1855 overlooking the canal, the imposing red-brick mill on Ellesmere Street in the Castlefield neighbourhood was the product of Manchester’s textile boom.
One of the city’s last massive mills to be restored, it was Talbot that spearheaded the rapid transformation of the Cornbrook area from undeveloped land to a powerful industrial hub in the late 19th century, before going on to dominate the local cotton industry in the early 1900s.
It was even used as a mushroom farm in the 1980s, while more recently, it has been the set of a period drama and a massive art exhibition.
But when the restoration is complete, over half the development will be newly-built and will offer residents of the nearly 200 ‘distinctive’ apartments a lush hidden garden, with plenty of green spaces to meet and hang out, while still managing to celebrate the mill’s past and retain loads of original features.
Capital&Centric is developing Talbot Mill as an investment, which it will retain for rent once finished.
This is something the developers have already done successfully on a number of sites in recent years, especially in its lengthy run of restoring Manchester’s iconic listed buildings and mixing the old in with the new.
One of Manchester’s oldest surviving Victorian mills will be repurposed into ‘distinctive’ rental homes / Credit: Capital&Centric
“We love to restore and repurpose historic buildings,” explained Tom Wilmot, who is the joint managing director at Capital&Centric.
“But as one of Manchester’s oldest mills, Talbot Mill is something a bit different, so we’re buzzing to be bringing it back to its former glory, [as] it had a huge role to play in the industrial revolution in the city and now it gets to be part of the city’s future.
“We’re retaining as many features as we can, to keep the history of the mill alive and so that our residents can enjoy becoming custodians of the past whilst enjoying all the trappings of modern-day living.”
Georgina Pellant -
9th February 2022 
