An anti-Gail’s campaign in Brixton has been linked to graphic designer Marlo Swann McNair Plowden, 28, whose work has included previous pro-Palestinian and anti-government demonstrations.
Posters placed near the bakery’s new south-west London branch urged residents to “avoid Gail’s” and depicted a loaf of bread strapped to what appeared to be an explosive device. The material described the chain as a “rising threat” and linked it to what campaigners called “the genocidal state of Israel”.
The posters were put up close to Brixton Market and Brixton Underground station before being swiftly removed. They also accused Gail’s of aggressive corporate expansion and contributing to “late-stage gentrification” in the area.
Strapline, an underground organisation associated with the campaign, shared video footage on Instagram showing the posters being pasted up. Mr Plowden is described as one of the people behind the group’s activities.
Activists have claimed that Bain Capital, which has majority ownership of Gail’s, has significant investments in Israel. Gail’s denies links to any country outside the UK.
Anti-Gail’s protests
The campaign against Gail’s initially centred on concerns about gentrification and the impact of new branches on independent traders. Opposition to the chain began after a shop opened in Walthamstow Village in October 2024, when residents organised a petition arguing that local alternatives could be forced to close.
Anti-Israel activists later joined the campaign. One petition signatory said they “loved local independent bakeries and hated Zionist moguls”, while another said: “We do not want them in our borough.” The allegations were described as unfounded in the material.
Protests escalated in February after a Gail’s branch in Archway, north London, was vandalised twice within a week of opening. Windows were smashed, red paint was thrown over the premises and messages including “Free Gaza” and “reject corporate Zionism” were sprayed on the front.
The Metropolitan Police investigated the incidents as hate crimes. The word “boycott” was painted above the bakery’s logo and an anarchist symbol was drawn near the door.
Campaigners against antisemitism have warned that associating the bakery with Jews, Israel and rapacious capitalism is a classic antisemitic trope. Gail’s was founded by baker Gail Mejia in the 1990s, when its first wholesale craft bakery opened in Hendon, a traditionally Jewish area of north London.
American investor Tom Molnar and Israeli businessman Ran Avidan bought half of the company in 2003, before opening the first Gail’s-branded bakery on Hampstead High Street two years later. Ms Mejia and Mr Avidan are no longer involved in the business.
Luke Johnson bought out Ms Mejia in 2011, and Bain Capital became the chain’s majority owner in 2021 after buying part of Mr Johnson’s stake.
Marlo Swann McNair Plowden
Mr Plowden describes himself as an illustrator working for “positive social change”. His design work examines the role of visual and written language in shaping belief systems, with the aim of influencing collective action.
He studied graphic design at Manchester Metropolitan University, where he gained a first-class degree, after completing a foundation year at the University of the Arts London. He has since worked with graphic design companies, Sky, Channel 4, Glastonbury and climate activists Extinction Rebellion.
He has attended pro-Palestinian marches and was photographed in front of a Workers Revolutionary Party and Young Socialists banner at a demonstration calling for a general strike to stop government support for Israel. He has also taken part in protests against the previous Conservative government’s Rwanda scheme for migrants.
Mr Plowden grew up in a £1.5 million home less than a mile from the new Brixton bakery. His family has historic links to the British establishment, including his grandfather, the Honourable William Julius Lowthian Plowden, who was an academic, Conservative government adviser and former under-secretary at the Department of Industry.
His great-grandfather, Baron Edwin Plowden, was a Scottish industrialist and senior public servant who worked in the Treasury and later held senior wartime government roles. He was also involved in the extraction and sale of Palestinian potash from the Dead Sea before the Second World War.
Lord Plowden later helped plan NATO’s defence of western Europe. His wife, Bridget, later Baroness Plowden, chaired the Independent Broadcasting Authority and published a major report on primary education in Britain.
Mr Plowden’s parents are both artists. His mother, an artist and artisanal blacksmith, helped create steampunk-inspired vehicles for the Paralympic Games closing ceremony in 2012, while his father is a sculptor who has described himself as a member of a guerrilla art group.
After posters appeared in Brixton, Mr Plowden’s father shared a photograph of them on Facebook with the message: “Looks like that Strapline has been at it again.” Mr Plowden has since removed much of his social media presence.
