PAUL UK, the 32-strong French bakery and café brand, saw EBITDA climb 19.2% to £4.3m in the year to 31 December 2014, with group turnover up 3.6% to £24.6m, M&C Report has learnt.
Chief executive Jean Michel-Orieux told M&C that the company, which saw revenue rise 13.7% on a like-for-like basis during the year, had generated an 8% increase in like-for-like sales for the year to date.
He said trading during the year had “exceeded expectations”.
The company will open a second Restaurant De Paul at Tower 42 in the City this summer featuring an enhanced retail offer alongside an all-day French restaurant and wine bar.
A further two bakery openings are planned at Marble Arch and Birmingham for later on this year.
During the year, the company opened three new sites; a kiosk in Canary Wharf, the first outside London PAUL in Oxford and the brand’s first restaurant format, Restaurant De Paul in Covent Garden.
It has since opened its second regional site in Newbury.
Orieux said that a refurbishment programme was also underway to “enhance the overall customer experience through improved design and store layout”.
He said: “We are delighted that trading has exceeded expectations. The improvements and controls put in place from mid-2013 have enhanced our results and produced a solid platform to enable the brand to step-up its expansion programme. Our like-for-like revenue growing by 13.7% demonstrates that our commitment to baking artisanal bread using premium ingredients and traditional techniques, without additives or preservatives, is appreciated by an increasing number of customers.
“Very few of our competitors take this approach and we are proud of the PAUL ‘Bien Mange’ ethos. Those results are a credit to all the hard work and passion delivered daily by our team throughout our bakeries and restaurants.”
Darren Williams, former head of retail at Hotel Chocolat, recently stepped down as commercial director of the company.
His departure follows the appointment of Gary Cowles, formerly of Stonegate Pub Company and Mitchells & Butlers (M&B), as the group’s new operations director.
The group is looking to open five sites in total this year.
