What Talent Acquisition Can Learn from Greggs: The Art of Staying Relevant
Let’s be honest, the talent acquisition world isn’t known for being particularly nimble. Most teams are still trying to squeeze 2025 hiring problems into 2015 systems. But if you want a masterclass in staying relevant in a traditional market without losing your soul, look no further than Greggs.
Yep, Greggs. The high street bakery that somehow went from “northern lunch queue with beige food” to a billion-pound, culture-defining brand. While everyone else was worrying about kale smoothies and LinkedIn employer branding awards, Greggs quietly reinvented itself, and its model for resilience is one every TA leader should steal.
Greggs started in 1939 with John Gregg cycling around Newcastle selling eggs and yeast.
By the 1960s, they were feeding miners’ wives pies from a van. Decades later, the business was national, and by the early 2000s, it had become the go-to for a bacon roll and a brew. Then came the backlash “cheap”, “unhealthy”, “not aspirational enough.” The avocado crowd sneered. But Greggs didn’t flinch. They got on with the work.
Fast forward to now: Greggs makes more than a million quid a week just from coffee. They’ve smashed their way into the breakfast market (only McDonald’s sells more), overtaken Starbucks in takeaway coffee, and turned a humble vegan sausage roll into a cultural event.
So, what does this have to do with hiring?
Everything.
Stay agile, not reactive
Greggs could have panicked when the PR turned sour. Instead, they doubled down on what worked and evolved what didn’t. They didn’t throw out their identity; they adapted how they showed up.
TA teams should do the same. Most recruitment strategies are fossilised. We still obsess over “time to hire” as if the world hasn’t changed. But the real metric that matters now is “speed of relevance” or how quickly you can adapt your message, process, and proposition to match where your candidates actually are.
Greggs expanded beyond the high street, setting up shop in train stations, petrol forecourts, and retail parks, literally going where people were.
That’s what modern TA needs to do too: fish where the candidates swim. If your sourcing is still 90% LinkedIn and InMails, you’re living in the past. Meet talent in the right places, through the right channels, with messaging that fits their world.
Convenience wins. Accessibility wins. Agility wins.
Build your brand for the market you’re in, not the one you remember
Greggs knew they couldn’t beat Tesco on bulk bakery, so they stopped trying. They pivoted to “food on the go” because 80% of their customers were already using them that way. It wasn’t about nostalgia; it was about data and awareness.
In TA, we talk a lot about “employer brand,” but most companies are branding themselves for candidates they wish they had, not the ones they actually need. You see it every day, those career pages that read like they’re written for a tech startup in 2013.
Greggs didn’t abandon their roots, they evolved them.
Builders can still grab a steak bake, but the same shop now sells vegan wraps and protein boxes. Everyone feels welcome. That’s smart segmentation, not reinvention for reinvention’s sake.
So, if your employer brand hasn’t evolved in three years, it’s probably irrelevant. The workforce has changed. So has work. You can’t hire Gen Z talent with Gen X logic and a dusty EVP deck from the pandemic.
Innovation isn’t about shiny things, it’s about relevance
Greggs’ vegan sausage roll wasn’t born from an innovation lab. It came from an online petition. Real people asked for it. Greggs listened.
In recruitment, innovation often gets confused with technology — new tools, AI sourcing, automation platforms. Sure, those matter, but they’re only as good as the thinking behind them. Real innovation in TA is about relevance: redesigning processes so candidates don’t feel like they’re applying to the DMV, removing friction for hiring managers, and testing ideas instead of worshipping “best practice.”
Greggs didn’t chase trends; they responded to real behaviour. You should do the same.
If candidates ghost you, it’s not because “the market is bad.” It’s because your process sucks.
Get your tone right and stick to it
When Piers Morgan mocked Greggs for releasing a vegan sausage roll, their reply was legendary: “Oh hello Piers, we’ve been expecting you.”
That one tweet did more for brand positioning than a million pounds of ad spend. It was confident, funny, and exactly on brand.
TA can learn a lot from that. Too many companies talk to candidates like robots. They hide behind HR-approved language and wonder why people disengage. Meanwhile, Greggs leaned into personality. Their marketing feels human, a little cheeky, honest, and self-aware. That tone builds trust, and trust builds traction.
If you want to attract the right people, talk like a real person. You’re not writing to “a candidate.” You’re writing to a human making a life decision.
Keep your business model and your hiring model simple
Greggs’ success isn’t just about branding or menu changes. It’s operational excellence. They’ve streamlined logistics, standardised quality, and made innovation scalable. The Billy Bookcase lesson applies here: real innovation is often about efficiency, not spectacle.
Talent acquisition is no different. Most teams chase complexity with multiple systems, overlapping tools, and endless data dashboards that tell you what you already know.
Strip it back. Simplify your process. Make it easier for hiring managers to hire and candidates to say yes.
Greggs has one clear promise: good food, great value, everywhere.
What’s your TA equivalent? Do you have one? Or is your “candidate experience” just a phrase in a slide deck?
Culture drives consistency
The magic in Greggs isn’t in the ovens, it’s in the people. Go into any Greggs and you’ll see it. Staff who actually seem to enjoy their jobs, even when they’re flat out. That consistency doesn’t happen by accident. It’s cultural.
In TA, the same rule applies. You can have the best tech stack in the world, but if your recruiters are demotivated, unclear, or unsupported, your hiring experience will reflect that.
You can’t automate engagement. You have to lead it.
Resilience and humour go a long way in fast-paced environments. Greggs staff aren’t reciting scripts; they’re connecting with people. That’s what we need more of in recruitment, a genuine human connection, not corporate choreography.
The big takeaway (See what I did there…)
Greggs isn’t perfect.
Inflation bites, costs rise, and they’ll have to make tough calls.
But they’ve built a business that moves with the times without losing sight of who they are.
That’s rare.
If TA wants the same kind of longevity, it needs to do what Greggs did:
Put the candidate (not the process) at the centre.
Evolve constantly, not react occasionally.
Keep your tone real.
Focus on efficiency as much as innovation.
Never forget that your people are the brand.
Greggs didn’t survive by following trends. They survived by staying relevant.
And that’s exactly what most talent acquisition functions have forgotten how to do.
About
Martin Dangerfield, Talent Acquisition Strategist. Straight-talker. Community builder. Talent Strategy Director at the rec hub,
I help in-house TA teams get better with a combination of sharper strategies, smarter hiring, and no-nonsense support. Since selling my business, I have been helping to grow the rec hub in it’s global mission to deliver an amazing embedded recruitment solution. I’ve built TA teams from scratch, scaled global functions, sold a business, and consult on all things talent acquisition.
I run #truManchester and #truLeeds because I believe the best ideas don’t come from panels, they come from people talking honestly in a room. I’m not here for buzzwords or silver bullets.
I’m here to help TA people do the job properly.
South African-born, UK-based, and European in perspective, I’m Gen X, proud of it, and not afraid to say what others won’t.
This is the work I care about. If you care too, stick around.