The Piper-backed Caribbean restaurant group reported sales of £85.4m for the year ended 27 March 2022, with trading in the first 13 weeks of the year still strong.
Adjusted EBITDA was also a record, at £17.8m, compared to £1.7m in 2021, following like-for-like sales growth of 48.6% since the business reopened its doors to dine-in customers on 17 May last year, until the year end.
The group said that trading since the end of the financial year continued to be very strong, with lfl sales at +43.1%, despite the return of VAT to 20%.
Turtle Bay, which is due to publish its latest accounts at Companies House shortly, said it had returned its balance sheet to a strong position, with net cash of £8.6m.
It opened several new sites during the period, including Coventry and Durham and reopened sites in Blackburn and Croydon, which had closed during the pandemic, ending the year with an estate of 44 restaurants.
Nick Crossley, CEO, Turtle Bay, told MCA: ”Trading has been very strong since the year end. We continue to perform ahead of our own high expectations and considerably ahead of the market.”
He said that while extensive press coverage of the macro economic environment will, no doubt, erode consumer confidence, “we remain confident that our strong position on value will continue to serve our consumers well and allow us to retain our market outperformance”.
“In order to retain our value positioning, we have regular dialogue with our key supply partners. These long lasting relationships allow us to work together to mitigate price fluctuations and we collaborate to develop products that create consumer interest and demand,” he added.
In a company statement, Crossley said he was very grateful to their restaurant’s teams, with Turtle Bay throwing its largest ever staff party this year. It has also created more than 60 new owners of the business through the introduction of its share scheme.
“We have intensified our focus on internal development and have recently launched three new apprenticeship schemes which (alongside our established Pathway programme) will support our teams’ personal and career development,” he added.
Crossley said the business was continuing with its plan to open 40 new sites over the next five years. Its next opening will be in Salford Quays in August, followed by Brindley Place in Birmingham in September, and then Romford in Essex.
“We are proactively exploring further opportunities and our research has identified great potential for Turtle Bay to expand at pace across the UK,” he added.
