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By Freya Barnes
Published: | Updated:
With breakfast pastries and coffee fresh on everyone’s minds this morning, MailOnline asked our readers which high street bakery chain they preferred – Greggs or Gail’s?
The results are in – and in a landslide victory Greggs came out on top as the nation’s sausage roll sweetheart, with 72 per cent of readers voting for it as their favourite while Gail’s received a mere 28 per cent of votes.
The findings come amid a recent revolt against Gail’s – with critics suggesting the bakery opening a new outlet is a sure-fire indicator the area is being gentrified amid fears it could put independent eateries out of business.
Residents of Walthamstow in north-east London and Worthing in West Sussex recently pushed back on plans for Gail’s branches to open in their area and slammed the chain for ‘ruining high streets’.
Owners of family-run cafés have warned that existing local firms were ‘struggling as it is’ and could lose custom or even be forced to close if a Gail’s opened near them.
In a landslide victory, Greggs came out on top as the nations sausage roll sweetheart with a 72 per cent of MailOnline readers you voting for it as their favourite over Gail’s
Gail’s received just 28 per cent of votes in the MailOnline poll
Gail’s chief executive Tom Molnar has instead insisted that he only ever wanted to give the customers choice.
He said: ‘We build small sites so they are a part of a diverse high street, so whenever I build a Gail’s I think what it would be like if I was a resident here.
‘I’d encourage people to look at what we’re trying to do, rather than taglines. There’s good independents and bad, and good chains and bad chains.’
Greggs has more than 2,400 stores across the UK – and Britons appear to love the bakery so much that Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Edinburgh had its very own Greggs van dishing out sausage rolls to fans.
A Greggs vehicle also appeared in Ibiza today to celebrate Café Mambo’s 30th anniversary and has become a popular feature of celebrity parties, including Vicky Pattison’s wedding and Olly Murs’ baby shower.
Gail’s was founded in 2005 with the first opening on north London’s upmarket Hampstead High Street and has been dubbed the ‘middle-class Greggs.
Greggs, which had 2,473 outlets by the end of last year, has announced further expansion plans to open up to 160 stores in 2024. Pictured: A Greggs sausage roll
A picture of the sweet treats on offer in a Gail’s bakery. Gail’s only opened its first bakery in London in 2005, but now proudly owns over 140 locations
It offers expensive artisan versions of classic pastries and is frequented by ‘yummy mummies’ cramming their prams between the tables and chairs.
Its rival Greggs has grown into a £3billion empire with bold promises to build a Greggs in ‘every town in Britain’, but it started out in 1939 as a humble bread delivery service for mining families in Newcastle.
The first official Greggs store opened in Gosforth, Newcastle in 1951.
It has since sprawled out across the country with one guaranteed to be just a stone’s throw away from you in any town and city.
These eight locations will see a new Greggs bakery opening as part of the company’s expansion plans in 2024
The first Greggs in Gosforth, Newcastle, which opened in 1951
Pensioners and working class women queue outside Greggs Seconds Shop in Westgate Road in Newcastle in July 1974
A new 21-piece Greggs x Primark collection has been designed to get the nation festival-ready
Lewis Capaldi models the Greggs clothing wear. Greggs clothing was seen everywhere at music festivals last summer thanks to a collaboration with high street fashion store Primark
Kate Beckinsale wore a Greggs swimsuit at her Californian home after the firm launched its own clothing range
A famous Greggs fan! Ed Sheeran posing with his lifetime supply Greggs black card
Even former Conservative MP Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg has spotted with a box of Greggs pastries on his desk.
The brand’s popularity has even led to a partnership with clothing store Primark twice to release ranges of merchandise including shoes, socks and hoodies – modelled by Lewis Capaldi and Kate Beckinsale.
Gail’s currently has 140 stores across the UK and is expanding rapidly to compete, but this MailOnline readers survey today suggests the firm still has some catching up to do with Greggs.
