jabird,
In the old days LGW was served by Brymon Twotters, not only from/to PLH/EXT but also from/to BHX and EMA.
I recall being in the RHS on finals for LGW one day, we had a screaming headwind, it seemed to take us ages just to fly past the staff car park ... but we were able to do a PDQ exit at the 2nd turn off after landing.
Just as an example, Scot/Suckling Airways seem to do very well with 30 seaters in/out of LCY, KLM were operating F50's in/out of LHR on the RTM route and I'd suggest a 50 seater at LHR to be more outrageous than something like a 19 seater at LGW.