The bakery chain opened in late November on the site of the former Lloyds bank building
London’s fastest growing bakery GAIL’s, best known for its sourdough and pastries, opened its newest shop at 7am on Claremont Road, Surbiton in late November.
The café, founded in 2005, has been rapidly expanding to multiple locations across the South of the UK in recent years.
While its £5 sourdough bread has proved popular and it has recently been voted the best bakery chain in Britain, GAIL’s expansion into local neighbourhoods with independent bakers has also proved controversial.
So how did Surbiton locals view its arrival on their high street?
A barista at a local independent coffee shop Rosie Bollins said, “There’s loads of independent coffee shops round here, so I think [it’s] a company so big as GAIL’s bringing their chain to an already over-saturated town with coffee shops.”
Bollins said she was concerned about multiple chains already set up along the high street, such as Costa, Café Nero, Greggs and McDonald’s.
“If you walk down here, you’ll see 10 plus coffee shops,” she said.
Surbiton has a number of independent coffee shops as well, including Surbeanton, The Press Room, Icon and Soprattutto.
Bollins said there was a concern that a big new competitor would lead to revenue losses and price increases at the smaller cafes.
Tuma Patel, a local resident, agreed that the high street was already over saturated with cafes. She told the Kingston Courier: “They [Surbiton] already have enough coffee shops”.
However, some people the Courier spoke to believe it will not affect the independent businesses on the high street.
GAIL’s customer Archie Nutley said he was “super excited” about the opening. He said: “It wouldn’t be a bad impact because the local ones like the Press Room and Icon have their regulars.
“If people aren’t from Surbiton, they will come to GAIL’s, but they [independent cafes] have enough business to keep them ticking over.”
Manager of the new GAIL’s, Georgie Souch, said she didn’t believe the store would have a detrimental effect on other businesses.
“There’s a few chains in Surbiton anyway,” she said. “But I think people will go where they want. Some people really like a smaller business, and some people really like GAIL’s.”
