Galashiels dubbed Greggs capital of UK in half-baked poll which sparks confusion

A national poll naming Galashiels as the most unhealthy place in Scotland, and second worst in the UK, has been causing amusement across the region this morning.
It's assumed this old Greggs in Channel Street has been included in the false tally.It's assumed this old Greggs in Channel Street has been included in the false tally.
It's assumed this old Greggs in Channel Street has been included in the false tally.

A survey by Great Bean Bags this week claimed the Borders town has the most fast food restaurants per head of population in the whole of Scotland, dubbing Galashiels the “Greggs capital of the UK”.

But it seems there’s some flaws to the workings behind that title.

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The survey says there are five Greggs in Galashiels, which means there is one for every 3,665 people.

And by adding another two McDonalds and one Domino’s to that total, it reckons there’s eight fast food restaurants for the town’s 18, 324 population.

That works out at one fast food restaurant for every 2,291 Galashiels resident.

But really the town only has one Greggs, which relocated from Channel Street to a bigger sit-in outlet in Market Street this summer, only one McDonalds at Wilderhaugh, and the single Domino’s pizza place on Channel Street.

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The results, shared in a story by the Daily Record newspaper this morning, have left Borderers finding both humour and confusion in the where the extra four Greggs and one McDonalds are in the town.

Alisha Guthrie Barresi took to social media to share her amusement, saying: “Where did they get five Greggs from?

Ross Mercer joked: “I swear a haven’t seen four of them!”

And Karen Quinn wrote: “Somebody can’t count. Last time I counted there was only one Greggs in Galashiels.”

Kara Doogan asked: “Where are the five Greggs they’re on about?” and Madison Turner agrees: “The survey says there are five Greggs in Galashiels ... what do you mean?!”

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Town councillors have also hit out at the potential damage such a slur on the town could do: https://www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk/news/updated-councillors-slam-bad-taste-of-survey-dubbing-galashiels-the-greggs-capital-of-uk-1-5032832 In the same survey Glasgow ended up in fourth with Edinburgh in eighth place.

We’ve contacted the survey organisers for comment.

Great Bean Bags states: “Do you live in the Greggs capital of the UK? Do you find yourself wondering why there seems to be more McDonald’s restaurants than people? Do you really know just how unhealthy your hometown is, and how does it rank with the rest of the UK?

“As part of our lazy scale campaign we have compiled an index of the UK’s unhealthiest places, looking at the amount of fast food locations and how these compare with the amount of people in those areas.

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“The study, looked at leading high street fast food outlets, including McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Domino’s Pizza and Greggs. By using location data from each of their websites, we were able to find just how many locations each place has in the UK, comparing this to populations in the selected areas, we could work out how many people there are per fast food restaurant - giving us a list of the UK’s unhealthiest places.”