If you were looking for a neighbourhood in which a community was primed to take a stand against the incursion of gentrification, then Walthamstow Village is not where you’d start the search. With its smart Victorian streets, pedestrianised cafe culture and seven-figure house prices, it looks like the last word in gentrified living. That renovated ship has sailed.
But last week this desirable corner of north-east London hit the news with a change.org petition to prevent the upmarket cafe and bakery chain Gail’s, often seen as a signifier of a neighbourhood’s middle-class credentials, from opening a shop in Orford Road, in the very heart of the village. There are already more than 90 Gail’s shops in the capital.
It was Mark Twain who observed that London was not a city but a collection of villages “based solidly together over a vast stretch of territory”. That romantic vision can be difficult to keep in mind when standing on, say, Euston Road or Streatham High Street, but in the idyllic setting of Walthamstow Village, which features a crown green bowls club, an old town hall and a host of elegant cafes where time-rich people sit nursing £3.20 flat white coffees, an almost pastoral peace reigns.
As long as you don’t mention Gail’s.
“I’ve never liked Gail’s,” says Vanessa Darnborough, standing outside a cafe called the Village Bakery. “But that’s not why I’m opposed to it.”
She explains that her objection is to the “inevitable” rent rises that will accompany the arrival of a chain outlet such as Gail’s, which will price out local independent shops.
That scenario is not unknown, indeed it is a much-cited symptom of gentrification – the process, named 60 years ago by the German-British Marxist sociologist Ruth Glass, by which the newly arrived middle-classes displace working-class occupants in neighbourhoods undergoing upward socioeconomic change.
Although a widely used term, it is a highly contested concept, with some studies suggesting that the influx of wealthier inhabitants does not necessarily mean the exit of older communities.
In any case, the shops in Walthamstow Village, where even the local fish and chip shop sells calamari, clearly cater to middle-class consumers. One operation that may find itself in direct competition with Gail’s is the nearby Eat 17 cafe and an attached Spar boutique grocers that sells artisanal bread and patisseries. Yet the people who run both shops also own the building, and are branching out into different neighbourhoods.
Nonetheless, there is a strong feeling that Gail’s represents outside interests. The petition against it says that Gail’s threatens “the unique identity of our community” and argues that “studies have shown that local businesses recycle a higher share of their revenue back into the local economy, enriching the entire community”.
Darnborough and her husband, John Larking, are celebrating their wedding anniversary with a brunch at the Village Bakery, a cafe that has been run by its current owner, Sam Davies, for 19 years. Davies herself is at pains to emphasise that she has nothing against Gail’s but believes that “we should stick to independent shops along here”.
Larking doesn’t like the term gentrification, which he finds “antiquated”. The African-American writer Ta-Nehisi Coates has suggested that gentrification is “a more pleasing name for white supremacy”. But areas such as Walthamstow Village, says Larking, “don’t exclude other races and religions. This is an extremely mixed area. But they possibly do exclude people of lower incomes”.
Diversity seems to be the key word for everyone. Gail’s spokesperson trumpets the “diverse backgrounds” of its staff and how its menu draws inspiration from “different cultures”. She also states that the bakery sets up in areas with a diversity of choice – “we should be celebrating the improvements in our food landscapes”.
The petition calls for a defence of “inclusive growth, preserving diversity and creating equitable and sustainable local economies”.
In a city like Paris, local authorities have enacted a raft of legislation to protect independent businesses from chains. But in London the market decides, and the market is dominated by homogenising chains: Costa Coffee, Pret, Caffè Nero, Starbucks – none of which are in Walthamstow Village.
Larking says he wasn’t against Gail’s until he read about its “co-owner”, the entrepreneur Luke Johnson, who is former chair of Pizza Express and Patisserie Valerie.
“It’s an anomaly to have someone with views that are so contrary to what are quite common in this area,” he says.
Johnson is well known for supporting Brexit, was critical of Covid lockdowns and restrictions against the unvaccinated, and generally seems to favour free-market solutions. But are owners of chains – from Chicken Express to Oliver Bonas – normally subject to suitability tests on their politics?
“He’s anti-woke,” says Larking, “which is a rightwing trope.”
One of the first messages put up on the change.org petition webpage under “Reasons for signing” was from Nia Davies, who wrote: “Love local independent bakeries and hate Zionist moguls.”
Johnson once wrote a piece celebrating Israel’s entrepreneurial successes. He has also bemoaned “the deranged defence of Hamas” on western campuses.
Gail’s points out that Johnson is only a minority investor and that his views have been unfairly characterised.
As it happens, the vacated space that Gail’s plans to occupy in Orford Road is next door to the local Labour party office of MP Stella Creasy. In June, during the election campaign, it was attacked by a man with a hammer who sprayed graffiti nearby calling the Labour party “child-bombing liars”. Malicious leaflets with false information were also distributed.
Such is the toxic nature of the Gaza debate that there has been local press speculation that some Gail’s objectors find it offensive that the chain’s co-founder Yael (Gail) Mejia is originally from Israel, even though she no longer has any financial involvement in the company.
“Gail’s is a UK-based business with no specific connections to any country or government outside of the UK and does not fund Israel,” says the company.
What all this has to do with the eye-wateringly expensive sourdough loaves and lavishly calorific croissants on which Gail’s built its reputation is unclear. What is beyond doubt, though, is that this is a dispute about who is and is not welcome in a conspicuously privileged enclave.
By Friday afternoon, there were 828 signatories to the petition and it’s fair to assume that most of them believe in the principles it espouses. Yet while locals may be opposed to rising business rents, they are not necessarily against rising house prices.
As one resident puts it: “There are benefits to gentrification but also lots of downsides. I don’t particularly like the idea of having a chain but, if house prices go up, selfishly I quite like that, but it’s not great for other people.”
That’s an awkward paradox familiar to many enriched homeowners who lament the loss of local character from the vantage point of a prohibitively pricey pavement cafe table. In Walthamstow Village, affluent protesters may have found the conscience-salving answer: protect gentrification from big business!
• This article was amended on 21 August 2024 to remove some quoted comments.
