Twenty years after opening its first cafe in Hampstead, Gail’s Bakery is accelerating its growth engine. Co-founder Tom Molnar recently stated that despite currently operating 185 sites, the business is “still early in our growth.” This ambitious outlook is backed by plans to open 40 more outlets in the coming year, following a financial period that saw sales swell to £278m.
The journey hasn’t been a straight line to success. Molnar reflected on the company’s history, noting that it took two decades to reach this point. “It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t very fast,” he admitted, revealing that on two separate occasions, the company halted expansion entirely. The founders were concerned that moving too quickly would compromise quality, a fear of being “consumed by speed” that plagues many scaling startups.
Today, the landscape is different. Backed by Bain Capital, the company has the resources to scale aggressively, having spent £51m recently on pre-opening costs. Molnar compares Gail’s current footprint to the thousands of sites operated by competitors like Greggs, suggesting that the ceiling for Gail’s potential is still far off.
The origins of the brand trace back to the early 1990s with founder Yael (Gail) Mejia, who focused on serving top-tier restaurants. The pivot to a consumer-facing high street brand began in 2005. This evolution from a wholesale baker to a high-street staple demonstrates a long-term vision that prioritized product quality over rapid, early proliferation.
Now, as they prepare for the next phase of expansion, the challenge will be maintaining that entrepreneurial spirit and quality control. With profit margins currently squeezed by rising costs, the leadership’s “slow and steady” philosophy is now being tested by the demands of rapid corporate scaling.