Bakery chain Gail’s plans to open 40 more outlets as sales soar
The upmarket bakery chain Gail’s is planning 40 more outlets after sales rose by a fifth last year as it opened 36 new bakeries and sales to supermarkets increased.The cafe and retailer, which currently has 185 sites, said sales rose to £278m in the year to the end of February but that pre-tax losses widened to £7.8m, from £7.4m a year before, as costs rose and it spent millions on opening new outlets, according to accounts filed at Companies House.Gail’s directors said staff and energy costs had risen, hitting profit margins, while it spent £51m on store pre-opening costs.
Sales at its retail arm rose almost 23%, more than double the pace of its wholesale division, which supplies clients including Waitrose, Ocado and Amazon from bakeries in London, Manchester and Bath.A Gail’s spokesperson told the Propel trade journal: “We are pleased to have delivered strong year-on-year growth.This performance is underpinned by the increasing demand for high-quality, nutrient dense food, and by the support of the communities we serve.We will continue to build on this momentum by growing with purpose and remaining committed to improving access to good food.”Speaking at a conference organised by Propel this month, Tom Molnar, who co-founded Gail’s 20 years ago, said the business was “still early in our growth”.
He said: “We do have a lot of bakeries now, but it took 20 years to get there.It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t very fast.Twice, we had to stop growing altogether, because we didn’t think that we could be better; we were worried about getting consumed by speed.We’re still early in our growth.You take McDonald’s, Greggs or any other successful food business here in the UK – they operate from thousands of sites, and we’re still below 200.
”Gail’s owners, led by the private equity group Bain Capital, last year reportedly hired the financial advisory company Goldman Sachs to help find new investors in an effort to drive expansion.The chain was said to be worth as much as £500m.The bakery was founded by Yael (Gail) Mejia in the early 1990s serving restaurants and other venues in London.In 2003, Molnar and a few others joined Mejia and the group opened the first bakery cafe in Hampstead in 2005.Sign up to Business TodayGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morningafter newsletter promotionThe rapidly expanding chain has become an unlikely political bellwether – used by the Liberal Democrats to help identify areas where voters might be ready to switch from the Conservatives.
Its expansion has also spurred local protests, including a heated one in Walthamstow, east London, where a petition to stop a Gail’s opening was signed by hundreds of residents.A new branch in Brighton was spray-painted with the world “boring” and a large image of a penis, according the local newspaper the Argus.
UK refrains from hitting high street on Black Friday as fears grow over economy
Shoppers held back from visiting high streets over Black Friday, data shows, amid fears weak consumer spending will put the brakes on economic growth in 2026.Visitors to all UK shopping destinations were down 2% on Friday and 7.2% compared with the equivalent days last year, according to the monitoring company MRI Software, with locations near central London offices among the few to experience a lift in visits.While most Black Friday sales are now online, the picture there was also a mixed bag in the run-up to the big weekend. Sales down heavily on Thursday but up on Tuesday, according to the online retail association IMRG
England’s water industry issued £10.5bn in ‘green bonds’ despite pollution record
Water companies have issued a fifth of the UK’s “green bonds” since 2017, despite a consistently poor record of sewage pollution during that time, research has shown.Privately owned water companies in England have together issued £10.5bn in bonds tied to projects that offer “environmental benefits”, according to analysis of financial market data by Unearthed, which is part of Greenpeace UK.Anglian Water has been the biggest issuer in the water industry, at £3.5bn, with struggling Thames Water second at £3
How big tech is creating its own friendly media bubble to ‘win the narrative battle online’
At a time when distrust of big tech is high, Silicon Valley is embracing an alternative ecosystem where every CEO is a starA montage of Palantir’s CEO, Alex Karp, and waving US flags set to a remix of AC/DC’s Thunderstruck blasts out as the intro for the tech billionaire’s interview with Sourcery, a YouTube show presented by the digital finance platform Brex. Over the course of a friendly walk through the company offices, Karp fields no questions about Palantir’s controversial ties to ICE but instead extolls the company’s virtues, brandishes a sword and discusses how he exhumed the remains of his childhood dog Rosita to rebury them near his current home.“That’s really sweet,” host Molly O’Shea tells Karp.If you are looking to hear from some of tech’s most powerful people, you will increasingly find them on a constellation of shows and podcasts like Sourcery that provide a safe space for an industry that is wary, if not openly hostile, towards critical media outlets. Some of the new media outlets are created by the companies themselves
More than 1,000 Amazon workers warn rapid AI rollout threatens jobs and climate
More than 1,000 Amazon employees have signed an open letter expressing “serious concerns” about AI development, saying that the company’s “all-costs justified, warp speed” approach to the powerful technology will cause damage to “democracy, to our jobs, and to the earth.”The letter, published on Wednesday, was signed by the Amazon workers anonymously, and comes a month after Amazon announced mass layoff plans as it increases adoption of AI in its operations.Among the signatories are staffers in a range of positions, including engineers, product managers and warehouse associates.Reflecting broader AI concerns across the industry, the letter was also supported by more than 2,400 workers from companies including Meta, Google, Apple and Microsoft.The letter contains a range of demands for Amazon, concerning its impact on the workplace and the environment
Division and derision: how plans for an AFL stadium left Tasmania in pieces | Jack Snape
Whatever parliamentarians decide this week, the acrimonious debate over the Macquarie Point plan in Hobart has been damagingIn a state with a rich history of activism, Sunday was a protest against a protest. Around 15,000 braved the rain to gather at Hobart’s parliament house to tell the soon-to-vote crossbenchers: “Yes stadium.”The AFL’s invitation in 2023 for Tasmania to join the mainland’s premier competition is arguably the greatest gift in Australian sport. The condition of that offer however, that the poorest state builds an expensive stadium on a precious parcel of land, has been described as “unconscionable”.Even the project’s lead proponent, premier Jeremy Rockliff, accepts for many the deal is not perfect
Middlesex CCC chief executive investigated after complaint by staff member
The Middlesex County Cricket Club chief executive, Andrew Cornish, has taken leave of absence from the club following an allegation of misconduct made by another member of staff.The Guardian has learned that Middlesex have handed the complaint over to the Cricket Regulator, which has launched an investigation into the matter.Cornish is understood to have stepped away from the club 10 days ago. Middlesex declined to comment when contacted by the Guardian, but the club’s board is expected to inform staff on Monday about Cornish’s absence.Cornish denies any inappropriate behaviour, and he has claimed to be unaware of the details of any complaints made against him
Expect a tale of two holiday seasons as the well-off spend and the rest pull back | Gene Marks
Bakery chain Gail’s plans to open 40 more outlets as sales soar
Is gen Z’s love of fried chicken pushing Britain to ‘peak pizza’?
Net migration is plummeting. Why can’t Labour say so? | Heather Stewart
Harrods warehouse staff underpaid by thousands of pounds after agency error
Airbus issues major A320 recall after mid-air incident grounds planes, disrupting global travel