THE retail and catering company, Allied Bakeries Ltd, is to make

almost 200 staff redundant from the end of this month with the closure

of 27 bakery shops throughout central Scotland.

The company, which once boasted of having a store in almost every High

Street, said yesterday that a change in consumer retail shopping

patterns, together with the recession, had resulted in declining sales

in some of its small bakery-only shops.

It will close 27 loss-making shops, including 12 in the Glasgow area,

on or about January 30. Those affected trade as City Bakeries, Baker's

Oven, Martins, and Strathdee and employ a mixture of full-time and

part-time staff.

Allied, which also employs 1200 staff at bakeries in Glasgow,

Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Dundee, said another 59 shops throughout

Scotland, staffed by 750 workers, would remain open.

Mr David Woodward, the retail director, said yesterday the latest

closures, which follow about 20 in Scotland during the past two years,

were largely due to the dependence of the stores on the sale of bread.

He said: ''The over-capacity in the bakery industry means that

standard (pan) bread is being sold by plant bakers at a loss and is

often sold at cost by discount supermarkets.

''The small baker offering personal service cannot compete with this

unless he is able to broaden his range to include hot pies and snacks,

which needs the right location. Long term, it will lead to less choice

for the customer.''

Mr Woodward, who said Allied Bakeries regretted the redundancies which

had occurred at a ''difficult'' time for employment, added that the

company's redundancy payment scheme was available to all staff with the

necessary service qualifications.

The company's Scottish regional retail head office, which employs five

people, might move from its present site in Milngavie to another

location as a result of the closure of its shop there.

Mr Pat McCormick, Scottish divisional officer of the shop workers'

trade union, Usdaw, said yesterday the announcement came as no surprise.

''There are often redundancies in the retail sector in January.

''We are also finding that we have problems on the products side of

bakeries with many bakers going to the wall as larger operators install

new technology in larger plants. These redundancies are simply a symptom

of the times.''