Gail's Defies Tough UK Trading to Pass £100m Revenues

-

Boutique bakery and coffee chain announces 14% rise in revenues to £100.8m for the year ending 28 February 2019, up from £86.4m the previous year

Gail's is seeking to grow to 200 stores over the next three years 

Bread Holdings, the parent company of Gail’s Bakery, said a rise in wholesale revenues, a ‘diverse customer base’ alongside new openings contributed to strong financial results during 2018-19.

‘Retail growth has been delivered by a combination of new store openings and like-for-like growth within the estate. We continue to invest in our business with the opening of ten Gail's bakeries in the year to February 2019, with a similar number of new openings expected this year,’ the company said in a statement.

The solid results will be welcome news for investor Luke Johnson, who in 2011 backed a management buyout of Gail’s through his private equity firm, Risk Capital Partners. In November 2019 reports circulated that Johnson had appointed advisors to oversee the sale of the bakery and coffee chain in 2020.

Gail’s Managing Director, Marta Pogroszewska, has previously indicated the chain is seeking grow its store footprint from 53 stores to 200 over the next three years. However, demonstrating the sustained challenges faced by UK hospitality businesses currently, in November 2019 World Coffee Portal research recorded UK branded coffee shop outlet growth slowed significantly from 8.7% in 2018 to 0.9% in 2019 amid Brexit uncertainty and dampened consumer confidence.

Premium and artisan-focused propositions could, however, hold the key to further growth in the UK’s branded coffee shop market as consumers opt for experience-led hospitality concepts and elevated quality.

Source: 

   

Popular posts from this blog

Inside Lidl’s strategy for in-store bakery (and how suppliers can help)

-
Image
Lidl is making a major play for in-store bakery and it’s not afraid to shout about it. The discounter – which is currently the sixth largest grocer in the UK by market share [Statista] – recently overtook Tesco to secure the biggest slice of in-store bakery (ISB). Data from Kantar showed that Lidl, which was crowned  Bakery Retailer of the Year  at the 2023 Baking Industry Awards, had pipped the UK’s largest supermarket  with 18.2% of the ISB market compared to Tesco’s 18%. Speaking at the British Society of Baking conference earlier this year, Holly Bleach, head of buying at Lidl, described bakery as “critical” to Lidl as it’s one of the categories that drives overall customer satisfaction. “We’re set up to be really successful in bakery in the UK due to the prominence of our bakeries in store. More often than not, they’re right by the front door so every customer that walks in has to pass the bakery and not many can resist stopping and obviously picking up an item,” she...
Read more

Savory, sweet, or something else? British snack preferences

-
Image
As  more Britons incorporate snacks into their daily routines , understanding their preferences could be essential for brands looking to capture a share of the market. From fruits and vegetables to indulgent confectionary and savoury treats, the snacking landscape in the UK is diverse. When it comes to daily snacking frequency, fruits and vegetables lead the way. Research shows that 57% of Britons snack on fruits daily, while 41% eat vegetables just as often. These healthy options are staples in the British diet; however, indulgence also has its place in the snacking routine.  Confectionary items are a popular choice, with 45% of Britons indulging weekly. Similarly, crisps (41%) and savoury biscuits (32%) are go-to snacks for many, highlighting the nation’s love for salty and crunchy treats.  Yogurt is another favoured option, with 24% of Britons enjoying it daily and 30% weekly. Despite being promoted as nutritious options, only a small percentage of respondents consume ...
Read more

Bakery’s growing role in food-to-go

-
Image
  Baked goods and food-to-go are natural partners, but this, in our view, is of increasing importance across the sector, and we see potential for bakery to play a bigger role in future. Here are some of the ways we are seeing this coming through:   The bakery-led café concept is a market sweetspot   Gail’s in the UK is a prominent example here, but there are many others. For example in Paris and Copenhagen, there are numerous examples of this, not least in the development of Eric Kayser and Lagkagehuset (trading as Ole & Steen in the UK and the US), both domestically and expanded significantly and internationally over recent years. During safaris in Stockholm earlier this year we were struck by food-to-go developments at the bakery-led Bröd & Salt, even adding a salad bar concept into some locations, and supporting bakery with a strong coffee and broader drinks offer. We see three clear elements driving success: 1) quality bakery that tempts in its own right 2)...
Read more