(L-R) Stephane Geffroy (London Gatwick Head of Retail), Pierre-Hugues Schmit (London Gatwick CEO), Tom Molnar (GAIL’s CEO), Jonathan Pollard (London Gatwick CCO).

Reporting from Gatwick, TRBusiness was on location to witness Gail’s open its first ever airport bakery at London Gatwick’s South Terminal, featuring its signature baked goods, coffee, alongside an array of merchandise, some of which is exclusive to the Gatwick location.

With its official opening today, Gatwick noted the F&B outlet is expected to bring significant benefits to the the local community, with over 70 jobs created and several more offered through the Rise with Gail’s programme, which supports career development in hospitality, and incorporates 45 different training programmes across the business.

TRBusiness, along with other members of the media, were offered a tour of the location, accompanied by Gail’s CEO, Thomas Wolnar, and Gatwick’s CCO Jonathan Pollard.

In a separate release, Nck Ayerst, Managing Director of Gail’s, said: “We are thrilled to be opening our first airport location in London Gatwick’s South Terminal, building on the established success driven by new locations in London transport hubs.

We’ve developed an extensive range to meet the specific needs of airport passengers and we look forward to sharing freshly baked, high-quality food and speciality coffee to this travelling through London Gatwick and beyond.”

“There is a rising tide in the quality of airports, and we’re excited to make this a warm and inviting place. The coffee is competitively priced, and we pride ourselves on having some of the best bread in the UK,” noted Wolnar, who added: “We are also tackling food waste by giving to Too Good To Go, in the hopes of supporting those we call our ‘second customer’.”

As the largest Gail’s in the business’ entire roster, it is also the only one with a licence to serve alcohol, albeit food must be purchased alongside each alcoholic drink.

Open from 3am – 11pm, the unit has a seating capacity of 100, supported by four coffee machines, five proofing cabinets, four ovens, and right tills. In total, the Gatwick outlet boasts 28 food and drink options for passengers, covering breakfast items, pastries, sandwiches, salads, confectionery, coffee and alcoholic options.

The store also boasts a wide range of merchandise, some of which is drawn directly form its domestic outlets.

There are however certain products – namely hats, candles and even granola – which are exclusive to Gatwick.

Gail’s won the unit – previously occupied by Harrod’s – in a public tender released by Gatwick.

Pollard spoke with TRBusiness about the role of F&B in its commercial strategy: “If you look at the trend over recent years, it’s not unique really, to Gatwick, but across the airport environment, you’ve seen an ongoing increase in F&B. So as a percentage of our total mix it continues to grow larger.

It’s where there’s a huge amount of demand. I think passengers are looking for more choice within food and beverage. Gail’s brings us something slightly different to what you’ve got currently. So I think you’re going to see a continuation of more food and beverage offer at the airport as we go forward.”

Pollard added it was important to weigh up the consumer demand for more and better F&B options with its current and future retail prospects: “Like any retail environment, there’s ongoing churn, and each time there’s a unit that presents itself as an opportunity, we’ll assess, what do we want in that space that may be different, it may actually be complementary to what we have already, and there’s a demand that we feel is under fulfilled.

We obviously keep a very close eye on where a new offer might fit in relative to what we have already. But our net decision is, does it overall add to the breadth of choice? And we think certainly, Gail’s  definitely does.”

READ MORE: Avolta launches its latest feel-good summer campaign at London Gatwick

READ MORE: Pierre-Hugues Schmit starts as Gatwick Airport’s new Chief Executive Officer

READ MORE: LGA posts strong H125 ahead of October dual runway decision