It is an ill wind that blows nobody any good and it turns out that the summer’s dreadful weather did not spell bad news for everyone on the high street. While fashion retailers slashed their prices and their staff peered hopefully out of the window, Mr and Mrs Public, anorak-clad and clinging to their brollies, shuffled past and headed off in search of pie and cake.

For many, that meant Greggs, the bakery chain - and for Greggs, that meant a summer to savour.

“If it’s hot, then people don’t tend to eat as much generally, and definitely not sausage rolls and things like that,” a Greggs spokesman said. Ah, but it rained: sausage rolls all round, then, and a 5.8 per cent rise in like-for-like sales.

The chain also said that it was reaping the rewards of a £3 million national advertising campaign featuring Paddy McGuinness, co-star of Phoenix Nights, followed by a further burst of television advertising in September. The chain opened 37 new stores last year, closed 20, and plans to add another 30 next year. It already has 1,353 outlets around the country.

However, the bakery said that it was experiencing cost pressures. Sir Michael Darrington, the managing director, said: “We are bearing significant increases in the cost of several key ingredients, including flour and dairy products, with protein price rises in the pipeline.”

Northern Foods, the maker of Goodfella’s pizzas and Fox biscuits, also said yesterday that its business has been hit by the rising cost of raw materials. It expects commodity prices, including cocoa and cheese, to rise by up to 10 per cent in the next year and analysts said that this would bring a tough second half. The group said that it had enjoyed strong underlying growth, despite inflationary pressure in the food industry and a poor summer. Revenue for the first six months to September 29 grew by 2.6 per cent.

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