New Possible’s British Training Awards sets out to discover and celebrate the organisations that are truly passionate about L&Ds role in building a thriving workforce.
In our latest ‘Sharing Success’ series, we interview British Training Awards Winners to shine a light on the inspiring initiatives that are improving workplaces across the UK and beyond. In this article we chat with Laura Akers from GAIL’s, winners of the ‘Leadership Development Initiative of the Year’ category.
Introducing Laura Akers:
Laura has been with GAIL’s for three years, initially joining as an L&D Manager to develop a new leadership training programme for aspiring Assistant Bakery Managers (ABM's) and Bakery Managers (BM's). Reflecting on her journey, Laura shared: “As my responsibilities and reach grew, I became the Senior L&D Manager a year ago, looking after our apprenticeship programmes, supporting team skills development and ongoing development for our existing Bakery Managers. My main responsibility is developing and overseeing our Top Crust Programme (our name for our internal leadership training programmes); of which there are now five levels.”
About GAIL’s:
GAIL’s was started by Yael (Gail) Mejia in the early 1990s, serving top chefs and food venues in London. In 2003, Tom Molnar and friends joined the premium wholesale craft bakery, expanding it by opening modern neighbourhood bakeries. The first GAIL’s opened in 2005 in Hampstead, offering fresh handmade bread, sandwiches, salads, pastries, cakes, and its house blend specialty coffee. GAIL’s ethos is to make good food by sourcing seasonally and sustainably, working with producers who share its commitment to a healthier food system. There are now over 170 GAIL’s bakeries, bringing craft baking to neighbourhoods across the UK, from in locations from London, to Bristol, to Manchester.
Top Crust: Fast-Tracking Internal Talent for Leadership Growth
GAIL’s Bakery is on a strategic journey to become the 'Best Place to Work and Grow' in its sector, with an ambitious goal to fill 70% of its management roles internally by March 2025. At the heart of this ambition is Top Crust, a structured, high-impact development programme designed to fast-track the progression of Team Leaders (TLs) and Assistant Bakery Managers (ABMs).
When asked how GAIL's identified the need to fast-track Team Leaders and Assistant Bakery Managers, Laura explained: “When I first joined GAIL’s, there was around 85 bakeries and with a plan for further expansion, there was a clear need to help people get ready for their next role. We had some workshops in place, but nothing tying them together and no clear understanding of what someone wanted to do if they wanted to progress."
"A combination of COVID and Brexit has really hit the hospitality industry hard, and so external recruitment was becoming very competitive. The hospitality industry relies on hands-on experience more than formal qualifications, meaning that anyone can have the opportunity to build their careers with us – we just need to be able to give them the right support and tools to do so. Having a pathway of development internally, also means that our future managers will be ready quicker as they already have a lot of great skills and knowledge behind them.”
Over the past 12 months, the three-month programme has seen 92 TLs and 47 ABMs complete the journey, with a further 43 participants currently enrolled. The programme blends competency-based workshops with digital learning tools, including pre and post-session resources, 'Make it Stick' activities, and 'Memory Joggers' to reinforce learning. Line managers are also supported through dedicated sessions to ensure a consistent, well-supported development experience.
Talent identification and development
Candidates are nominated using a structured 9-box grid talent assessment and undergo a selection process before joining the programme. Once enrolled, they complete four competency-aligned workshops and a real-world project. This culminates in a Talent Day presentation to a panel from Talent, L&D, and Operations, where learners showcase a KPI project or a 30-60-90 day business plan and a personal SWOT analysis. Regardless of promotion outcome, each participant leaves with a tailored development plan and the opportunity to reapply after further support.
We asked Laura to tell us more about the Talent Day: “A Talent Day takes place at the end of the programme and is designed to demonstrate their learnings on programme as well as evidence how they have put these learnings into practice. Our aspiring ABMs present back a KPI project, focusing on two KPIs from their bakery: they present how it was chosen, the starting scores, their plan of action, the results at the end and ultimately their key learnings. Our aspiring BMs will present a realistic business plan for a bakery chosen by their Operations Manager that could potentially be the bakery that they take over at the end of the programme."
"Though the programme is led by L&D, it has to be underpinned by support from our amazing Operations Team and Bakery Managers. They were involved from the start, using focus groups and feedback sessions to create the programme, helping to tweak and keep it updated depending on company priorities, and ultimately our Ops and Talent teams drive the Talent days at the end. After a Talent Day, the learner is then given a PDP to outline their future development regardless of the outcome of the day. Learning does not stop just because the programme has come to an end.”
The impact of Top Crust has been significant:
- 67% of TLs and 72% of ABMs who completed the programme have been promoted.
- The initiative achieved a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of +82.
- The programme was recognised with the Architect award at GAIL’s Quarterly Awards, nominated by the Operations Team.
Impact beyond the programme
Beyond immediate progression outcomes, Top Crust has had a wider impact on GAIL’s learning and development strategy. It has deepened collaboration between the L&D and Operations Teams and introduced evidence-based project work to clearly measure learner impact at the bakery level. It has also helped the business establish clearer, more measurable objectives in its training design and delivery.
Ultimately, Top Crust exemplifies GAIL’s commitment to 'growing our own', building a strong internal talent pipeline and equipping future leaders with the skills and confidence to rise.
Laura also commented on the impact of the programme: “One of the results that I am most proud of is our 12-month retention scores. Of those that have joined our Top Crust Development programmes, we have retained 100% of learners on our ABM to BM programme, and 90% of our Team Leaders to ABM; regardless of whether they have been promoted or not. The programme aims to support overall development, and whether at the end of the programme someone is ready or not quite ready for their next role, these scores show just how important investing in people’s development can be.”
Unexpected wins and challenges
We asked Laura if there were any unexpected wins or challenges during the Top Crust journey: “I think it is the thirst for learning that exists within GAIL’s. When Top Crust first went live in 2023, we only offered two programmes for aspiring ABMs and BMs. We were not sure what the appetite would be to start with, so we opened up the application process for any and all who wished to apply, and for 48 potential spaces, we received 98 applications. Since then, we have added more specific readiness criteria to help people be ready for when applications open and have slowly adjusted the process to ensure that the Top Crusters coming through are really the Top Crust of our Breadheads. Since then, the desire for development has only grown – we now have three more Top Crust programmes to support aspiring Team Leaders, Group Managers and Support Office team.”
What advice would Laura give to other organisations looking to implement a similar leadership initiative?
“My advice would always be to start with the end in mind. Go back to your objectives and shape exactly what you are trying to achieve. Use focus groups to understand not just where you want to go, but where you are starting from. Once you have this gap, the programme will start to naturally take shape. Wherever possible, involve different subject matter experts to help shape the content - or even deliver parts of it. Accept that you won’t always be the person with all the answers."
“And my final piece of advice: make sure to keep your key stakeholders involved throughout. For me, that was the operations team. The more you include and partner with them, the smoother the launch of any new initiative will be.”
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