Who owns Gail's?

Gail's is majority owned by Bain Capital Credit, the credit arm of the American private equity firm Bain Capital, since a deal that completed on 5 October 2021. It has not been genuinely independent since Risk Capital Partners first invested in April 2011, and it was already dozens of shops by the time private equity got involved at all.

That surprises people because Gail's still looks and talks like a neighbourhood bakery: a chalkboard, a sourdough loaf on the counter, a name that sounds like someone's aunt. The company behind it is a private-equity-backed group opening bakeries at a rate few genuine independents ever could.

How big has Gail's actually gotten?

Fast, and getting faster. Gail's opened 36 new bakeries in the year to February 2025 and was on track for another 40 in the year to February 2026, on annual revenue approaching £220 million, according to The Grocer and British Baker. That is not a high-street bakery any more, that is a national chain still wearing a corner-shop face.

It didn't start that way. Gail Mejia founded it in the early 1990s as a handful of London bakeries supplying restaurants, and Tom Molnar, who still runs it as chief executive, has talked about starting at around 200 loaves a day and scaling to roughly 40,000. The first Gail's-branded high-street shop opened in Hampstead in 2005. By the time Bain Capital Credit bought in, it already had a private-equity owner behind it.

Who actually owns it, and how do we know?

Gail's bakeries and cafés are run by Bread Holdings Limited (company number 07570780), which also owns The Bread Factory. Its persons-with-significant-control register at Companies House shows Grain Bidco Limited holding 75 per cent or more of its shares and voting rights, notified 5 October 2021. Grain Bidco is itself controlled by Grain Midco Limited, which is controlled by Grain Topco Limited, both incorporated the same week in August 2021 and registered at Bain Capital's London office, Duo, 280 Bishopsgate. Grain Topco has filed a statement that no person holds registrable significant control over it, so the Companies House trail runs out one level before it names an individual, the same way it does for Elliott Advisors on our Waterstones page.

What names Bain Capital Credit, because the register alone doesn't, is Bain Capital's own announcement: on 14 September 2021 it confirmed an investment in Bread Holdings "in partnership with EBITDA Investments", and the law firm on the deal, Willkie Farr & Gallagher, described it as a majority stake for Bain Capital Credit. Risk Capital Partners, the seller, said in its own statement that it had sold its stake for "over £200 million". Before that sale, Risk Capital Partners II LP held 25 to 50 per cent of Bread Holdings, first disclosed when the UK's persons-with-significant-control register began on 6 April 2016 (the fund's actual investment dates back to April 2011, before any such register existed), until it was bought out on the same date Grain Bidco arrived, 5 October 2021.

How did Gail's end up like this?

Early 1990s. Gail Mejia starts a small group of London bakeries supplying restaurants. 2005. The first Gail's-branded high-street shop opens in Hampstead. April 2011. Risk Capital Partners first invests, when the business is doing around £25 million a year. 14 September 2021. Bain Capital, in partnership with EBITDA Investments, agrees to buy a majority stake in Bread Holdings through Bain Capital Credit, reportedly for over £200 million. 5 October 2021. The deal completes: Grain Bidco Limited replaces Risk Capital Partners II LP on the PSC register. 2025 to 2026. Gail's opens roughly 36 new bakeries in a year and plans 40 more, on revenue nearing £220 million.

Where can I get bread that isn't Gail's?

An independent bakery, and most towns still have at least one, which is more than you can say for a lot of categories on this site. None of this is a comment on the bread, which plenty of people like a great deal. It's only that "looks independent" and "is independent" are different claims, checkable against the same public register every time, and Gail's shopfronts have been making the first claim for a lot longer than the second one has been true.

Questions people ask

Is Gail's an independent bakery? No, not since 2011 at the earliest, when Risk Capital Partners first took a stake, and not at all since 5 October 2021, when Bain Capital Credit became the majority owner.

Who owns Gail's now? Bain Capital Credit, part of the American private equity firm Bain Capital, through a chain of holding companies, Grain Bidco, Grain Midco and Grain Topco, registered at its London office, in partnership with EBITDA Investments.

Is Gail's the same company as The Bread Factory? They sit under the same parent, Bread Holdings Limited, which owns both.

How many Gail's are there? Growing fast: 36 new shops opened in the year to February 2025, with another 40 planned for the year to February 2026, on revenue approaching £220 million.

How do I check who owns a bakery myself? Search the company name on Companies House and open the persons-with-significant-control page, which is free. An independent usually resolves to a named person in one step. A private-equity-backed chain like this one takes three holding companies before the trail runs out.

Last checked 7 September 2026. Gail's keeps opening shops fast enough that some of these figures will be out of date within the year; if you spot one that's moved, email alex@digitalhighstreett.com and I'll fix it.