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.

The cafe and retailer, which currently has 185 sites, said sales rose to £278m in the year to the end of February but that pre-tax losses widened to £7.8m, from £7.4m a year before, as costs rose and it spent millions on opening new outlets.

Gail’s directors said staff and energy costs had risen, hitting profit margins, while it spent £51m on store reopening costs.

Sales at its retail arm rose almost 23%, more than double the pace of its wholesale division, which supplies clients including Waitrose, Ocado and Amazon from bakeries in London, Manchester and Bath.

A Gail’s spokesperson told the Propel trade journal: “We are pl

See Full Page