View 3 Images

Until recently, I knew very little about Gail's. It was just another cafe chain to me, and not one I'd ever walked into. In my youth, I preferred the dark green siren call of Starbucks to the bland red and white of Gail's.

But Gail's has become a hot topic — in one instance a petition to stop a Gail’s opening was signed by hundreds of residents and said keeping out the bakery is about “safeguarding the soul of a beloved neighbourhood”.

Three months after that branch of Gail's successfully opened its doors in London's Walthamstow, the owner of a nearby bakery, Samantha Davies, told My London: "I'm selling up now. I'm not gonna be waking up at 6am just to stand here all morning doing nothing. Gail's has impacted everyone."

The chain's rapid expansion has plenty of vocal opp

See Full Page