FishWorks, the fishmonger and restaurant chain, has announced it has closed its head office operations in the West End of London and has started opening its restaurants seven days week as part of a restructuring of its cost base.
The company said that as a result of its acquisition of Channel Fisheries it was now able to rely on successful delivery of fresh seafood seven days a week, which has allowed it to open its restaurants on Mondays for the first time.
The company said that this had been achieved without any significant increase in costs or overheads, and that this more efficient use of its resources should benefit its top line sales and margins.
As a result the group has reported an 8% increase in week-on-week sales in the first week of this being in operation.
FishWorks said that it was moving its head office operations to its leased offices above its Islington restaurant.
It said this move has delivered cost savings, including staff redundancies, and is expected to add significantly to performance and sales by handing back more control and accountability to the individual site management.
The company said that it expects these initiatives to save running costs in the region of £225,000 this year and on an ongoing basis each year of £650,000.
The group said the search for a new chairman after Roy Morris resigned before Christmas was ongoing, and that it had been in communication with a number of potential appointees.
It said that it was also seeking to appoint an experienced operations manager to oversee restaurant performance.
The company also said that to complement the restructuring of its cost base it would be implementing a marketing strategy to drive top line sales.
Mitch Tonks, chief executive, said: “The review and changes we have made over recent weeks should be very beneficial to our business.
“I believe that the discipline, culture change and wider experience of the board and management team will significantly benefit the group and shareholders going forward. The new team is focussed on driving business hard and managed well in order to increase shareholder value.”
In November last year the company issued a profit warning, saying that its pre-tax profit for the year to 31 July 2007 would be below market expectations.
The warning followed a wide-ranging review of its roll out plans, and the admission that some sites were underperforming.
