| Monday 24 August 2026 | Week 35 · price: 1 croissant |
THE PATCH Bobby & the Homies · GAIL's BH Area |
|
Evening all
GREAT TEAMWORK SHINING THROUGH LAST WEEK
Evening all. Last week had plenty in it worth being pleased about, coffee held above target across the patch and our customer scores came in ahead of where we need them. Availability is the bit that needs us all leaning in this week, so let's get after it together.
Availability 76.0% ▲ +10.1 | Coffee 70.2% ▲ +0.6 | Waste +0.0 ▼ −0.6 | Labour +1.1 vs budget | NPS 56.9 target 55 |
| BIG STRIDES JERICHO 🚀 |
We landed a fair bit short of target as an area, and the honest read is that Sandwiches and Savouries are doing most of the dragging. Summertown and Jericho, take a bow, you both came in comfortably above target and Thame and Witney held the line exactly where we want it. Gerrards Cross, I know sickness and Reporter issues made last week a proper slog, so let's get round you on ordering and production planning rather than just pushing quantities up blindly. If we can get sandwiches right through the middle of the day everywhere, this number moves quickly.
Area 76.0% | Target 80.0% | Best Jericho 88.0 | All hands Gerrards Cross 55.0 |
| Jericho | 88.0 | |||
| Summertown | 88.0 | |||
| Banbury | 81.0 | |||
| Thame | 79.0 | |||
| Witney | 78.0 | |||
| Reading | 76.0 | |||
| Beaconsfield | 75.0 | |||
| Henley | 71.0 | |||
| Marlow | 71.0 | |||
| Gerrards Cross | 55.0 |
The tick marks the 80% line.
Spotlight
How Jericho did it
Summertown finished at 87% availability with 100% Travel Path completion, and the two are not a coincidence. Walk the floor on a routine, spot the gaps early, and top up before the customer notices.
| SANDWICHES SZN 🥐 |
Across the Top 20 the pattern is clear, Pastries and Sweets are holding up well and Sandwiches are where we're losing customers. Jericho and Summertown are showing what good looks like when production and ordering line up. Gerrards Cross, breakfast pots are the single biggest gap, so let's work out together whether that's ordering, production or forecast before anyone changes numbers. Fix sandwiches and savouries and the whole area picture changes.
Sandwiches 64.0% | Savouries 71.0% | Bread 76.0% | Sweets + Cakes 80.0% |
| Sandwiches | 64.0 | |||
| Savouries | 71.0 | |||
| Bread | 76.0 | |||
| Sweets + Cakes | 80.0 | |||
| Pastries | 84.0 |
The tick marks the 80% line.
The number that decides the week 64.0% | Sandwiches at 63% is the weakest Top 20 category, and getting the midday top-up bake right is what moves it.
|
| SMASHING IT, GERRARDS CROSS! 🔥 |
Coffee is the good news story of the week, the area came in above target and it wasn't one site carrying it. Summertown, Gerrards Cross, Jericho and Henley were all comfortably clear, and Banbury and Thame nudged over too. Marlow, worth us having a look at your grind and dose routine together this week, it's a quick fix once someone stands on the machine with the team for a shift. Everyone else, hold what you've got, this is the easiest target on the sheet to keep.
Area 70.2% | Target 68.0% | Above target 6/10 | Best Summertown 81.3 |
| Bakery | Coffee | Vs target |
|---|---|---|
| Summertown | 81.3% | +13.3 |
| Gerrards Cross | 79.6% | +11.6 |
| Jericho | 77.0% | +9.0 |
| Henley | 76.1% | +8.1 |
| Banbury | 70.5% | +2.5 |
| Thame | 69.1% | +1.1 |
| Beaconsfield | 67.8% | -0.2 |
| Reading | 66.6% | -1.4 |
| Witney | 61.7% | -6.3 |
| Marlow | 52.5% | -15.5 |
Streak watch ☕
Streak watch: Summertown at 81.3% and Gerrards Cross at 79.6% are both well clear of the 68% target, keep that run going.
| EASY ON THE TRAYS 🗑️ |
Waste is broadly in decent shape, with more sites under budget than over and none of it running away from us. Gerrards Cross and Summertown were both well under, and Henley and Marlow came in tidy too. Small daily calls on what we bake and when will keep this where it should be.
Area actual 5.5% | Budget 5.5% | Variance +0.0 | Under budget 4/10 |
| Bakery | Actual | Budget | Variance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gerrards Cross | 4.6% | 6.0% | -1.4 |
| Summertown | 4.4% | 5.5% | -1.1 |
| Marlow | 4.1% | 4.7% | -0.6 |
| Henley | 4.5% | 5.1% | -0.6 |
| Reading | 5.3% | 5.2% | +0.1 |
| Beaconsfield | 5.8% | 5.5% | +0.3 |
| Witney | 7.2% | 6.8% | +0.4 |
| Thame | 6.4% | 5.8% | +0.6 |
| Jericho | 6.0% | 5.2% | +0.8 |
| ONE MORE PUSH 💷 |
A mixed week on sales, with several sites beating forecast even where like for like is tough. Marlow, a strong week over forecast, and Gerrards Cross, Henley, Thame and Witney all banked ahead of what you called. Reading, the like for like drop is a big swing, so let's sit down and unpick what's genuinely footfall and what's ours to fix. Bank holiday trade is in front of us, so let's make sure forecasts and bakes are set up to catch it.
Actual sales £242,737 | Area L4L -7.7% | This week forecast £245,030 | Sites reported 10/10 |
| Bakery | Actual | Vs forecast | L4L | Next week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marlow | £30,867 | +15.6% | -6.9% | £29,102 |
| Henley | £28,939 | +1.9% | -7.2% | £29,200 |
| Jericho | £28,717 | -1.7% | -6.7% | £28,500 |
| Beaconsfield | £25,051 | -5.5% | -7.5% | £25,900 |
| Gerrards Cross | £23,739 | +8.4% | +5.3% | £23,538 |
| Reading | £23,118 | -5.3% | -22.6% | £26,400 |
| Banbury | £23,000 | -4.2% | — | £23,300 |
| Summertown | £22,930 | -6.0% | -9.2% | £24,000 |
| Thame | £21,174 | +5.3% | -3.2% | £20,700 |
| Witney | £15,203 | +1.4% | -11.2% | £14,390 |
Banked last week £242,737 | Marlow banked £30,867 against a £26,700 forecast, so with the bank holiday ahead let's all sanity-check our numbers.
|
Labour is close to budget at most sites, which is decent going in a week with sickness knocking rotas about. Marlow and Gerrards Cross both came in under, and Thame and Jericho were near enough spot on. Banbury, the gap is the widest on the patch, so let's look at your rota shape together and see where the hours are landing versus trade. Getting rotas built to the trade curve rather than the habit is the win here.
Actual 27.3% | Budget 26.2% | Variance +1.1% | Under budget 2/10 |
| Bakery | Actual | Budget | Variance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gerrards Cross | 23.9% | 27.1% | -3.2% |
| Marlow | 21.4% | 22.4% | -1.0% |
| Thame | 28.1% | 27.5% | +0.6% |
| Jericho | 28.5% | 27.5% | +1.0% |
| Henley | 24.0% | 22.9% | +1.1% |
| Witney | 34.5% | 32.9% | +1.6% |
| Beaconsfield | 25.9% | 24.1% | +1.8% |
| Summertown | 27.7% | 25.8% | +1.8% |
| Reading | 26.3% | 23.1% | +3.2% |
| Banbury | 32.4% | 28.4% | +4.0% |
| THEY NOTICED 💌 |
Customer scores came in above target as an area, which is a good sign that the basics are landing where it counts. Summertown, that's an outstanding score, and Banbury, Witney, Marlow and Thame all sat comfortably above the line too. Beaconsfield, response volumes are low so the score is jumpy, let's talk about how we get more customers actually leaving feedback so the number reflects what you're doing. Henley, your last two scores tell the real story, keep going.
Area average 56.9 | Target 55 | Best Summertown · 80 | Responses 10/10 |
| Summertown | 80.0 | |||
| Banbury | 67.0 | |||
| Witney | 67.0 | |||
| Marlow | 64.0 | |||
| Thame | 64.0 | |||
| Reading | 56.0 | |||
| Jericho | 50.0 | |||
| Henley | 43.0 | |||
| Gerrards Cross | 42.0 | |||
| Beaconsfield | 36.0 |
The tick marks the 55% line.
Routines are in a much better place at the top end than they were a few weeks ago. Summertown, full marks on Travel Path and nearly there on post-shift, and Gerrards Cross, Jericho and Henley are all doing the Travel Path properly. Reading, post-shift and Travel Path are both slipping, so what would help, is it timing or is it clarity on who owns it? Post-shift is the one that protects tomorrow morning, so let's all treat it as part of the shift, not the bit after it.
Travel Path 61% | Post-shift 48% | All flags 28 | Customer flags 3 |
| Bakery | Travel Path | Post-shift | Flags | Customer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jericho | 93% | 57% | 11 | 1 |
| Gerrards Cross | 93% | 64% | 5 | 0 |
| Summertown | 100% | 93% | 4 | 0 |
| Reading | 7% | 29% | 3 | 1 |
| Marlow | 43% | 21% | 2 | 0 |
| Banbury | 14% | 57% | 1 | 1 |
| Beaconsfield | 29% | 14% | 1 | 0 |
| Thame | 71% | 64% | 1 | 0 |
| Henley | 86% | 57% | 0 | 0 |
| Witney | 71% | 21% | 0 | 0 |
Customers’ choice · highest NPS
An NPS of 80 — the best score anywhere on the patch. Your customers just told everyone.
| Amazing Coffee Efficiency Improvements
+20.0 on Top 20 availability vs last week
|
Standout can be anything — a number, a save, a moment. Nominate someone at submit.gailshub.uk.
Nothing in yet this week — be the first: submit.gailshub.uk
| Got someone to shout out? Takes 30 seconds. | → submit.gailshub.uk |
Nothing in yet this week — be the first: submit.gailshub.uk
| 🎂 | Callum Neal Marlow · 30th Callum, hope the 30th is a proper day off with no bake schedule anywhere near you, have a great one. |
| 🏅 |
Reading Kiara, two years on the Breadhead team at Reading, that is real craft and real graft, well done. |
Make sure they hear it in person too — cake is not optional.
Cascade Tuesday 25th, 9am arrival please! Autumn engagement session on Thursday - 9am start again. | Quote of the week "You can't rush a river, but you can clear its path." It's an old fisherman's line, and it fits this week: we can't force trade, but we can take the blockages out of the way so it flows.
|
This week’s mission
GET TOP 20 AVAILABILITY BACK ABOVE TARGET ACROSS THE PATCH, WITH SANDWICHES AND SAVOURIES THE FIRST THING WE LOOK AT EVERY DAY.
Availability is the one thing a customer notices instantly, and every empty shelf is a sale and a recommendation we never get back.
Have a great week everyone.
Bobby
Bobby
| Share link: |