All articles by James Halliwell – Page 11
-
NewsRevolution Bars enjoys a strong Christmas
Revolution Bars has released a trading update for the 26 weeks ended 28 December 2019, and for the Christmas period, encompassing the four weeks to NYE. For the those four weeks, up to and including New Year’s Eve, sales were up 4% on last year. Weekly sales per venue averaged over £65,000. Total sales for the 26 week period were £81.2m, up 3.4% on the previous year.
-
NewsWadworth reports dip in profits but property revaluation delivers a £32m boost
A revaluation of its property portfolio has delivered a £32m boost to Wadworth after a challenging year which saw sales slip from £67.1m to £66.6m. Pre-tax profits were also down to £2.2m from £2.4m the previous year. However, given the challenging environment the business said it had been a “solid” year for the business, with operating profit up £462k on the year before.
-
NewsCMA indicates approval of Stonegate Ei deal
The CMA has indicated it is satisfied that the disposal of 42 pubs will clear the way for the Stonegate and Ei Group deal to progress. In a statement this morning it said the disposals amounted to a “sufficiently clear-cut and effective resolution of the CMA’s competition concerns.” However, it ...
-
NewsMitchells & Butlers “pleased” with performance
Mitchells & Butlers has released a trading update for the 14 weeks ending 4 January 2020. Like for like sales were up 3.5%, with “particularly strong sales growth” in food. Over the three-week festive period, like-for-like sales were up 5.6%. Total sales increased by 2.7% over the full year to date.
-
NewsSales spice up at Giggling Squid
Giggling Squid has said sales for the year ending 31 March 2019 were up 39% to £33m. It opened seven new sites to take it to 30 during the financial year, and said the new sites have all performed “on or well above expectations”. It has subsequently opened four new sites in Oxford, Chislehurst, Leamington Spa and Weybridge, and will open its 35th site in Leicester in January.
-
NewsArc Inspirations reveals jump in sales following year of investment
Arc Inspirations has reported a 16.7% jump in sales, from £23.3m to £27.2m, with like-for-like sales up 1.1%. Operating profit was down by 31% to £213k, and it returned pre-tax losses of £474k compared with a pre-tax profit of £183k last year. However, over the period the 17-site business invested £7.5m, including opening five sites and innovation.
-
NewsOakman Inns & Restaurants reports like for like rise
Oakman Inns & Restaurants has said like for like sales were up 7.3% for the 15 month period ended June 2019. Sales for the period topped £46.7m with LfL sales up 7.3%. Site EBITDA was £8.6m with group EBITDA at £4.2m. “Overall we have maintained our corporate momentum despite an unhelpful environment with the uncertainty around Brexit impacting both consumer and investor confidence,” said Oakman CEO, Peter Borg-Neal.
-
NewsVirtual brands hit 2,000 on Deliveroo
Some 2,000 virtual restaurant brands are now available on Deliveroo after the number rose by 150% in 2019, MCA can reveal. Orders from virtual brands have rocketed by 220% since January, with the 2,000 virtual brands operated by 1,200 restaurants. “We are committed to helping our partners grow their businesses and offer the widest, most exciting menus, and virtual brands do just that,” Deliveroo CEO Will Shu told MCA.
-
NewsFulham Shore reports hike in sales and lift in profits
Fulham Shore, which operates Franco Manca and The Real Greek, has said sales were up 9.3% to £36m for the six months ended 29 September 2019. Pre-tax profits were £1.4m, compared to a £0.1m loss the previous year. It opened six Franco Manca sites and one Real Greek site during the period, and has also opened one of each since September. It now has 51 Franco Manca sites and 18 Real Greek sites.
-
NewsSales and profits up at Brunning & Price
Brunning & Price has said sales were up 11% to £80.5m for the year ending 30 December 2018. Pre-tax profits were also up to £13.8m, compared to £10.1m the previous year, before exceptional items. “Our business is well positioned in the market with a compelling, differentiated food-led offer that consistently outperforms the pub restaurant sector,” said the business.
-
NewsSales up at Fuller’s after transformational start to the year
Fuller’s has made a “solid” start to its premium pubs and hotels business, as it released its financial results for the half year to 28 September 2019. It said it had made £164.5m profit from the sale of its beer business to Asahi, that sales were up 6% to £174.8m ...
-
NewsBlackrose Facebook posts banned by ASA
Blackrose has run into trouble with the ASA after it was accused of encouraging excessive drinking and implying that drinking alcohol could make people feel more confident. The 44-strong pubco, launched in June by investment vehicle Aprirose, ran three Facebook posts which fell foul of the ASA code and have now been banned.
-
Analysis & InsightDrowning in plain sight
Oh, we don’t like to be beside the seaside. It wasn’t always like this, coastal towns used to thrive on hoards of tourists flocking to the beach to lick ice creams, feed chips to seagulls, have fun on the pier and paddle in the channel. But in the 1960s the rising popularity of relatively exotic package holidays to sunny Europe saw numbers drop and the trend never stopped.
-
OpinionThe profitable Pickup paradox
At first glance, Deliveroo’s latest development, called Pickup, is a perfect paradox. Normally Deliveroo only fails to deliver when one of its more myopic drivers fails to find the right front door, now it’s being built into the business model. How can a business literally named after delivery not deliver?
-
NewsPret’s chief customer officer resigns
Pret’s chief customer officer, Barnaby Dawe, has resigned and will leave the business at the end of the year. Dawe, who joined Pret in 2018, plans to return to work in media and ecommerce where he worked at Harper Collins, Sky, The Sun, The Times and Channel 4.
-
NewsNew River reports “robust” performance
New River has reported a rise in Underlying Funds From Operations from £25.6m to £26.4m for the first half of the year. “We are pleased to report another period of solid performance, as we entered our 10th year of operations,” said CEO Allan Lockhart. “Our diversified and differentiated portfolio continued to outperform the market, delivering sustainable cash flows, robust operational metrics and resilient valuations.
-
NewsSSP deliver rise in sales and profits
SSP has revealed a 7.8% rise in pre tax profits to £197.2m for the year ended 30 September 2019. Sales were also up 9% to £2,794.6m. It said it had achieved the results despite an “unusual number of external headwinds during the year, including disruption from the ‘Gilets Jaunes’ protests in France, slower passenger growth and the impact of a number of airport redevelopments in the Nordic countries and in Spain, the grounding of Boeing Max 737 aircraft in North America, and weaker Chinese passenger numbers and the cessation of operations of Jet Airways in the Asia Pacific region.
-
NewsMitchells & Butlers reveal “strong” performance
Mitchells & Butlers CEO Phil Urban has hailed a “strong” performance after the group revealed a rise in sales and profits. Sales were up 4% to £2,237m for the year ended 28 September 2019 with pre tax profits up 36% to £177m. Like for like sales were up 3.5%.
-
NewsWetherspoon sales up 5.6%
Wetherspoons has reported a sales uplift for the 13 weeks to 27 October 2019. Like-for-like sales increased by 5.3% and total sales by 5.6%. Wetherspoons has opened one new pub since the start of the financial year and has disposed of four.
-
NewsPret, TGI Fridays and M&B sign up with allergy app
Pret, TGI Fridays and Mitchells & Butlers have all teamed up with a new smartphone app to help people with allergies avoid food which could trigger them. The free app, called Dinepilot, allows consumers to filter meals based on 14 of the most common allergies, and it also ensures operators comply with food allergy management.