Coal Grill & Bar, the restaurant group operated by Charterhouse Leisure, saw like-for-like sales up by 6% in December across its estate, John Gates told M&C Report as the group prepares to open its 10th site in Swindon today.
The newest site at the Regent Circus Development in Swindon is linked to the town centre and opposite a new Cineworld development.
The new site has been designed by the same team who designed the Telford restaurant, which opened at the end of 2014. Aesthetically it has a more industrial look and feel, which is “much more themed to coal mines”.
Gates said the company is close to securing a further five restaurants which are “all in good locations and continue the national spread” of the brand. The new sites are in town centre locations with high footfall throughout the day and leisure parks with cinema complexes that have proven successful for the Coal Grill & Bar model.
Over the festive period there was strong performance across the estate with Gates attributing the rise in like-for-like sales to customers beginning to know and understand the brand better.
“We are keeping very much to our core and working even harder on the provenance of our food: most of our beef can be traced back to a farm in Bath, which I visit and know,” Gates said.
