GAIL's Bakery

Good food is for everyone. Through our partnership with Neighbourly, we have donated the equivalent of 81k meals, reaching 239 good causes. Each meal represents a story about how food connects people. For example, Sankofa Storytelling Arts in Somers Town share our bakes during the drama classes they hold for vulnerable adults and children. FoodCycle incorporate our food into a nourishing meal for locals in Marylebone. The Dwayne Simpson Foundation break bread as part of their Soup and Support project in Brixton, while the residents at Grace House, a female-only complex needs accommodation service, appreciate a good slice of cake.

All of the pork in our baking comes from @Packington Free Range, where the Mercer family have farmed the land for over a century. Their pigs are born outdoors and live their entire life with plenty of space to roam, wallow and be sociable.

Today we fired up the ovens at our new bakery in Newbury. We all know that Paddington Bear arrived in Britain from Peru but the author, Michael Bond, was born in Newbury in 1926. Nodding to Paddington’s favourite spread, we’ve incorporated shades of marmalade in the feature lighting, around the window and in the tiles on the baker’s table. We have retained and restored the original ceilings, plasterwork and flooring, while surplus tiles and outdoor furniture have been sourced from other bakeries. We have partnered with Eight Bells for Mental Health and The Newbury Community Resource Centre to share any surplus bakes with the community. 1 Mansion House St, Newbury RG14 5ES Newman Gauge Design Associates

When we were designing our new website, we wanted it to feel like you’d just walked into one of our bakeries: clean, simple and beautifully-laid out. Along with a whole host of helpful updates and benefits, it’s now easier to order ahead when you need food for a crowd, whether it’s at the office or at home. And if you’re looking to skip the queue, place your same day click & collect order via our app. Thank you to everyone who helped us bring our online bakery to life: StudioSmall Xanda Ltd Karen Spalter Jonathan Mortimer Rosie Hill Stavros Gangos Alexis Ridley John Edwards Pilar Gruszczynski Pires Dominique Esseen-Jayes Lauren K. Gavin Lombard Charlotte Gunn Charlie Monaghan Joanne L. Julia Ramil Immacolata Doppietti www.gails.com

Summer sandwiches, on the baker’s table now. - Ham & Swiss Cheese Ciabatta with bread and butter pickles from our friends Eaten Alive Ltd - Harissa tuna sandwich with potato and Kalamata olives - Pastrami sandwich – an everything-topped roll with mustard mayonnaise, Chapel and Swan pastrami and Eaten Alive Ltd bread and butter pickles - Summer tomato sandwich with Natoora Cuore del Vesuvio tomatoes, Haverstock White (a delicious plant-based spread made with fermented cashew and macadamia nuts) and fresh Summer herbs

At our recent quarterly awards, we celebrated more anniversaries than ever. These long-standing breadheads are the custodians of our culture. As we bring our baking to more neighbourhoods, they generously share knowledge accumulated over many years of baking and brewing for communities. Thank you to Maria, Alice, Beta, Domenico, Anna and Karen for sharing your stories with us.

Marylebone’s Dorset House is home to our newest bakery. Our friends Object Space Place were inspired by the building’s Art Deco heritage. Together, we opted for a palette of red and white marble, polished steel and ash timber with a walnut stain – in keeping with the Art Deco tradition of fine, highly-polished materials. The sunburst clock is a 1920s original with a gilded beech frame. With sustainability in mind, we left a number of the walls exactly as we found them. The cream upholstery is a sustainable, silicon-based material called Sileather, and we have used breathable Graphenstone Paints UK. To make our food go further, we will share our leftover bakes with the community via Euston Foodbank, FoodCycle Marylebone and Hope & Anchor Community Church. Stop by for a loaf over the weekend. 35 Melcombe Street, NW1 6AG

Last week the Coffee team headed to #WorldofCoffee in Copenhagen to be inspired, celebrate specialty coffee and share what we do.

Coffee Manager Lisa-Laura A.H. Verhoest joined Well Grounded CIC and other friends from the world of specialty coffee to discuss career progression in our industry. We recently partnered with Well Grounded to create our own training programme for people facing barriers to employment, with several of the graduates joining us as baristas. Thank you to Well Grounded for organising this invaluable conversation. You can read their report ‘A State of the Coffee Nation: Exploring Progression in the Specialty Coffee Industry’ here: https://lnkd.in/dQCVwSVH

Last week we headed to Groundswell Agriculture to meet farmers and friends in the industry who are shifting the food system towards a better future. The event is by farmers, for farmers, and centres around their most important asset: soil. Our highlight was hearing Professor Tim Benton address the uncertainty in the global food system and how it might develop in the coming decades.