Gail's bakery plans to expand after sales surge

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.

- Sarah Butler

The cafe and retailer, which has 185 sites, said sales rose to £278m in the year to the end of February but pretax losses widened to £7.8m, from £7.4m a year before, 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.