Gail’s Artisan Bakery, the Luke Johnson-backed group, has appointed Polly Barnes, formerly of Byron, as its new operations director, MCA has learnt.
Barnes joins the 31-strong group after a brief stint as director of operations at Ennismore. Previous to that she spent four years at Byron, including stints as senior operations manager and most recently as a regional operations manager.
She joins Gail’s, which is led by managing director Barry Cook, after it recently opened its second regional site in Farnham, Surrey.
The company, which was founded in 2005 and also recently opened in Bethnal Green and West Hampstead, made its regional debut earlier this year in Summertown, Oxford.
It is currently considering further locations such as Cambridge, St Albans and Guildford.
Last year, the company revealed plans to expand out of the capital, but said it had turned down opportunities to go into travel locations.
Tom Molnar, joint founder of Gail’s, said he had ambitions to open sites within 50 miles of London.
