Bill’s closes 12 sites, prepares to refinance, reports turnover up 20% to £74m: Bill’s, the Richard Caring-backed restaurant group, confirmed it has closed 12 sites as it prepares to refinance, and reported turnover was up 20% to £74m. In its accounts for the year ending 2 January 2022, the company said: “A number of sites with lease commitments have remained closed due to previous under¬performance, whereby a decision has been made to actively surrender or sublet the sites where possible. During the year, 12 sites ceased trading and were exited post year-end. The sites were either sublet or surrendered. During the year, the existing revolving credit facility with HSBC was extended to 31 March 2022. Borrowing total did not exceed £42.5m, being the total of the previous standalone revolving credit facility (RCF), with £40.9m outstanding at year-end. A further refinancing has occurred subsequent to year¬-end, with a new expiry of March 2023. Subsequent to the year-end date, the immediate parent company re-financed its existing facility with HSBC, expiring in March 2023, with an option for a further 12 months through to March 2024, contingent on approval from both parties. At the date of signing the financial statements, this extension has not been formally approved, however the directors are satisfied that the relationship with HSBC remains strong and fully expect that the facility will be renewed. The new facility is £38m. The main shareholder provided additional funding of £750,000 subsequent to year-end. The cashflow forecasts prepared by management indicate a working capital shortfall within the next 12 months. When combined with the ongoing discussions regarding the renewal of the RCF, management conclude that there exists a material uncertainty in relation to going concern. However, the group is fortunate to benefit from the support of its bank and its significant shareholder, and the significant shareholder has confirmed that he would be willing to support the group should cash funding be required to provide working capital and deliver the strategic plan that wasn’t available through increasing existing or negotiated facilities with the group’s bank. Therefore, the expectation of the directors is that the company will be able to continue in operation and meet its liabilities as they fall over a period of at least 12 months from the date of approval of these accounts (3 February 2023).” The company reported revenue of £74,265,000 for the year ending 2 January 2022, showing like for like growth of 20% (2021: £61,653,000). Adjusted Ebitda grew from £1,457,000 in 2021 to £7,561,000. Pre-tax losses narrowed from £18,686,000 to £1,247,000. It received £10,915,000 in furlough income (2021: £19,936,000).
Sixth UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database to feature 185 companies, released on Friday: The sixth UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database, which will be sent to Premium subscribers on Friday (17 February) at midday, will feature 185 companies, with 15 new additions. It will provide insight on the offer, locations, cost and other key details of companies offering a food and beverage franchise in the UK, with more than 85,000 words of content. Several street food concepts are among the new franchisors featured. Among them is Pakistani theme-based café concept
Naan Staap, which has five locations, all in London, and opened its first franchise site in November 2022. Also featured is fast-casual Greek brand
Mikos Gyros, which opened its first store in London in 2017 and has since grown to eight locations in the capital. Lebanese street food concept
Allo Beirut, which has six outlets in the Middle East and is looking to expand to the UK, is also featured. So too is
Yakinori, a four-strong noodle and sushi concept founded in Birmingham in 2015. Premium subscribers also receive access to The
New Openings Database; the
Propel Multi-Site Database, produced in association with Virgate; the
Turnover & Profits Blue Book; and the
Who’s Who of UK Food and Beverage. Premium subscribers have also been given access to the entire recording of the 2023 Restaurant Marketer & Innovator European Summit Conference. Subscribers were sent 30 separate video presentations, featuring more than 80 speakers. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £895 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The single subscription rate is £445 plus VAT for operators and £545 plus VAT for suppliers.
Email jo.charity@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription. Subscribers also receive access to Propel’s library of Friday Wrap interviews and have access to a curated video library of the sector’s finest leaders and entrepreneurs, offering their insights on running outstanding businesses in the sector. They also receive their morning newsletter 11 hours early, at 7pm the evening before our 6am send-out; regular video content and regular exclusive columns from Propel group editor Mark Wingett.
RedCat appoints Mike Rothwell as new chief financial officer: RedCat Pub Company, the investment vehicle headed by Rooney Anand, has appointed Mike Rothwell as its new chief financial officer, Propel has learned. Rothwell, who was chief financial officer of Caesars Entertainment’s EMEA operations for eight years, will take over from Steve Trowbridge who is leaving RedCat to “develop his career outside of” the business. RedCat said that Rothwell has “proven expertise in driving strong financial performance in the hospitality and leisure sectors”. He has held multiple senior finance roles throughout a career spanning over 30 years, having worked with private equity firms including TPG and Apollo. He will join RedCat on 20 February with Trowbridge stepping down on 10 March. Trowbridge, formerly of Evans Cycles and Thomson Reuters, joined RedCat last March, replacing Sharon Badelek, who recently joined Various Eateries, the Coppa Club operator, as its new chief financial officer. RedCat has grown since inception in February 2021, having acquired over 120 pubs and pub hotels, now amounting to a hotel room estate of over 1,200 rooms and a total enterprise value of circa £250m. Anand, executive chairman of RedCat Pub Company, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Mike to RedCat. He is a natural fit for our business, steeped in the hospitality sector and highly experienced in private equity. I’m looking forward to us working closely together and welcome him to the team. Steve leaves with our sincere thanks for his contribution and his role in helping RedCat grow to a 120 site, £250m pubs business in a short period of time. We wish him and his family every success for the future.” Rothwell said: “I’m thrilled to be joining RedCat and bringing my experience to bear. RedCat has seen impressive growth and I’m looking forward to working with Rooney and the team to continue that journey and help them build a truly impressive pub and pub hotels business.”
SSP reports four-month sales of £871m, with revenue tracking above pre-pandemic levels: SSP Group has reported four-month sales of £871m, with revenue tracking above pre-pandemic levels. In its trading update for the first four months of its financial year, covering the period from 1 October 2022 to 31 January 2023, it reported group sales of £871m, representing a strengthening of performance to 103% of 2019 levels, and with revenues tracking above 2019 levels in North America, Continental Europe and the Rest of the World. This includes the benefit from net contract gains as it “accelerates the mobilisation of our significant pipeline”, in addition to price increases compared to the same period in 2019. The performance has been driven by a further recovery in passenger numbers, led by strong leisure travel demand over the extended holiday season. This momentum continued through the autumn and into the winter, demonstrating a resilience to the broader pressures on consumer spending. Business and commuter travel also continued to recover, albeit at a slower pace. The company continued to make progress in extending and renewing contracts as well as winning new business, including in North America as well as in India, Malaysia and Thailand, to augment its strong pipeline. Approximately two thirds of sales from net new business openings in its secured pipeline are expected to come from the North America and Rest of World regions. In the UK, the overall sales performance reflected both the seasonally higher weighting of rail within the business and the impact of an increased frequency of industrial action across the rail network during December and January. However, the UK air business maintained its strong momentum. UK & Ireland performance was £215m, second only behind Continental Europe (£330m) and ahead of North America (£196m) and Rest of World (£130m). The UK & Ireland performance was up 83% on 2019 and 146% on 2022. The company said while it continues to face macroeconomic uncertainty, it believes the travel food and beverage sector will remain structurally resilient to pressures on consumer spending, and that its global footprint, with rising exposure to the North American and Asia Pacific regions, will deliver sustained growth. It said: “The new financial year has started well as we have maintained revenue momentum and have actively mitigated inflationary pressures to deliver a strong conversion of sales to profitability. Despite the impact of industrial action in the UK rail network, strong trading across our other regions means our performance remains on track against the planning assumptions outlined for 2023 at our preliminary results on 6 December 2022, namely for revenues to be in the region of £2.9-3.0bn with corresponding Ebitda (pre IFRS 16) in the region of £250-£280m. As previously reported, these planning assumptions included a contribution from our pipeline of new outlets which, once fully mobilised, will add approximately £550m to revenues by 2025, compared to 2019.” SSP Group chief executive Patrick Coveney added: “The strong momentum in performance that we saw across the business in the second half of last year has continued into the new financial year, demonstrating the high quality of our business model. We are making excellent progress against our strategic ambitions and are on track to deliver against the planning assumptions we set at the beginning of the financial year. We have headroom for further growth and returns in multiple markets across the world. In particular, we see significant momentum and potential to accelerate expansion across the North America and Rest of World markets where revenues are now growing rapidly, and which together are expected to account for approximately 40% of the Group by 2025. In addition to this we continue to expand in a targeted way in the UK, Europe and the Middle East. The long-term structural growth in the air and rail travel sectors and the ongoing demand from clients and customers around the world for our brands and food concepts leave us well-placed to create significant value for shareholders for many years ahead.”
Hollywood Bowl expands Canadian portfolio by adding three bowling centres: Hollywood Bowl Group, the UK’s largest ten-pin bowling operator, has expanded its Canadian portfolio by adding three bowling centres in Calgary. It has acquired HLD Investments (operating as YYC Bowling & Entertainment), Mountain View Bowl and Wong and Lewis Investments (operating as Let's Bowl), for a combined total consideration of 12m CAD (approximately £7.5m). The three entertainment centres each offer ten-pin bowling lanes, dining, drinks and amusements. The group said the acquisition supports its growth strategy in the “fragmented Canadian market” and will build on the strong progress already being made by Splitsville, the group’s first acquisition in Canada last year. The businesses have seen strong trading since covid-19 restrictions were relaxed in early March 2022 and are currently outperforming when compared to FY2019. The 12 million CAD will be funded from the group’s existing cash resources and the acquisition will be earnings enhancing for the financial year ending 30 September 2023. The group has identified a pipeline of acquisitions, as well as new site opportunities, in the Canadian market, with returns in line with Hollywood Bowl’s financial investment criteria. Hollywood Bowl Group chief executive Stephen Burns said: “We are delighted to have made these acquisitions. They mark an important step towards our planned expansion of the Splitsville brand in Canada, where there is significant demand for affordable, family-friendly leisure experiences. These are our first centres in the important Alberta market, and together with Pat Haggerty, our Canadian president and managing director, and his team, we are looking forward to applying our knowledge and experience to these centres. We are focused on enhancing the customer experience as we invest in and grow their businesses over the coming years.”
Dalata acquires north London hotel, to be first in the capital under its Maldron brand: Irish hotel operator Dalata has added a new 192-bedroom hotel at 240 Seven Sisters Road, Finsbury Park, north London to its portfolio. Dalata has acquired the entire issued share capital of Tide Developments for a total consideration of £44.3m (€49.7m) from Furadino Holdings. TD4 has a gross asset value of £45.1m and owns the freehold interest of the hotel property. The total consideration will be financed from Dalata’s existing cash and banking facilities. The newly finished hotel, which has never traded, consists of 192 bedrooms, a ground floor lobby and a restaurant and bar. Prior to opening in summer 2023, Dalata will invest more than £2m to enhance the property and launch it under the Maldron brand. The hotel, with an expectation of stabilised annual earnings of £4m, will be Dalata’s first Maldron hotel in London, its 18th hotel in the UK and will create more than 50 jobs locally. Dalata chief executive Dermot Crowley said: “London is a key strategic growth market for Dalata. We are very excited to be opening our first Maldron hotel in the city in advance of our Maldron in Shoreditch, which is currently under construction. This acquisition represents an outstanding opportunity to operate a new, sustainably built hotel in a vibrant and developing area as we continue our ambitious UK expansion plan. The strength of our balance sheet has been a crucial element in enabling us to make this investment as we continue to create value for all of our stakeholders.” Shane Casserly, corporate development director at Dalata, added: “Acquiring a new hotel asset in London, in challenging funding markets, that will be operational in the summer of 2023, is a fantastic achievement by the group. This transaction highlights our appetite for growth as well as the flexibility of our business model, which enables us to grow through acquisition, development and leasing. We are excited by the excellent sustainability credentials of the property as we continue to make progress on our ambitious targets.”
Wetherspoon selling pints for almost £7 as inflation bites: Wetherspoon customers now face paying almost £7 for a pint at the pub chain amid soaring inflation. The chain recently increased the cost of its food and drink by around 7.5% as costs continue to rise. Now, inflation reaching up to 11% means pubgoers in some of Wetherspoon’s 800 branches could be handing over nearly £7 for a drink, reports The Sun. One of the most expensive Spoons pints in the country is on offer at Leicester Square’s Moon Under The Water, with Leffe Blonde costing £6.85. The Belgian pint is just as expensive at branches in Heathrow and Gatwick airports. Pints of San Miguel, Corona and BrewDog IPA will also cost a £6.55 at Wetherspoon's Leicester Square pub. Meanwhile, a pint of Leffe Blonde costs £6.15 at Penderal’s Oak in High Holborn and Wetherspoons in Victoria Station. It comes as the chain increased the price of its food meal deals by up to 75p and its drinks by 25p. Chairman Tim Martin recently claimed supermarkets had taken up to half the industry’s trade as customers looked to cut back on costs. He added that pubs were vulnerable to competition from shops as supermarkets do not pay VAT on food sales, while bars and restaurants pay 20%. Martin said in January’s trading update: “We estimate that supermarkets have taken about half of the pub industry’s beer volumes since Wetherspoon started trading in 1979, a process that has likely accelerated following the pandemic.” Wetherspoon recently announced it would sell 40 of its pubs amid cost pressures.
Train company offers cheaper tickets on Mondays and Fridays to urge home workers back into the office: Commuters are being offered cheaper train tickets on Mondays and Fridays in a bid to woo workers back into the office full-time. Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) has cut ticket prices on rush-hour trains on Monday and Friday to incentivise workers to travel to the office every day of the week. It is a response to the trend for employees to work from home on Mondays and Fridays, and travel to the office mid-week, reports the Daily Mail. The tickets must be bought in advance and are available up to 12 weeks prior to travel. The company is also hoping to incentivise the 28% of the population who work from home by trialling a loyalty scheme. Commuters can collect points to redeem on days out, cinema tickets and coffee. Trials for the scheme are happening between Victoria, Clapham Junction and East Croydon stations, and those south of Three Bridges and West Sussex.
