Tortilla undergoes refinancing, CFO to step down: Tortilla, the UK’s largest fast-casual Mexican restaurant brand, has entered into a new, enlarged funding facility with its long-standing banking partner, Santander UK. Tortilla has also announced Maria Denny will step down as chief financial officer as it enters the next phase of its development. Under the terms of the refinancing, Tortilla has agreed a new £12.5m senior facility agreement – £2.5m of which is an overdraft facility, replacing the existing £10.0m facility that was due to mature on 14 September 2026. At 24 June 2025, the company holds additional bank debt facilities in France of €1.03m, which were rolled over as part of the acquisition of Fresh Burritos in 2024. Tortilla’s available debt facilities therefore total £13.4m at group level. Tortilla stated: “This enhanced facility will strengthen the group’s balance sheet and provide additional flexibility to support UK growth through targeted investment in technology and brand marketing. It will also enable the refurbishment and rebranding of the sites acquired in France last year, which will relaunch under the Tortilla brand. There are no changes to the company’s current guidance.” Chief executive Andy Naylor said: “We are delighted to extend our 13-year relationship with Santander. The refinancing enables us to invest further in growth initiatives that have been yielding success in our UK business and to accelerate the launch of Tortilla into the European market, starting with France.” Meanwhile, Denny has informed the board of her intention to step down as chief financial officer, effective 30 September 2025. Tortilla has initiated a formal search process to identify a successor. In the interim, Josie Whelan, currently head of commercial finance, will be appointed non-board interim chief financial officer and will work alongside Maria to ensure an orderly handover and seamless transition before Denny’s departure. Naylor said: “On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Maria for her significant contribution to Tortilla, particularly during our recent refinancing process and financially steering the business through the acquisition of Fresh Burritos and our growth initiatives in the UK. We wish Maria all the best in her future endeavours.” Denny said: “It has been a privilege to serve as chief financial officer of Tortilla. I’m proud of what we have achieved, and I look forward to monitoring the future success of the company as it enters its next phase of growth.” Tortilla features in the Propel Turnover & Profits Blue Book, which is available exclusively to Premium Club subscribers and features 1,125 companies. Tortilla's turnover of £68.0m for the year ending 31 December 2024 is the 186th highest in the database. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The single subscription rate is £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription.

200 Degrees reports 7.8% like-for-like sales growth as turnover reaches £20m: 200 Degrees, the Nero Group-owned brand, has announced record sales for the financial year ending 31 May 2025, on the back of like-for-like sales growth of 7.8%. The 22-strong business said it saw “extremely strong sales” for the year, which reached £20m for the first time, representing total sales growth of 16% over the previous year. 200 Degrees said its like-for-like sales growth was underpinned by “notable positive customer growth”. The business opened one additional store between November and its year end, taking the total number of stores in its estate to 22. The brand said it has a strong new opening pipeline planned moving forwards, including its latest shop opening at the Cotswolds Designer Shopping Village in July. In addition to its store estate, 200 Degrees owns its own roastery and operates an online e-commerce channel selling directly to customers at home, including a subscription offering. It also has a successful wholesale business, serving more than 600 wholesale customers. For the same financial year, the combined wholesale and online business saw sales rise by 28% year on year. 200 Degrees commercial director, Will Kenney said: “I’m delighted with the performance and growth we have seen this year. 200 Degrees continues to go from strength to strength and customers continue to respond very positively to our focus on delivering excellent guest service and our commitment to speciality coffee. All four pillars of our business – our shops, wholesale, e-commerce platform and barista schools – have continued to perform well. I believe there is a lot of potential for this business to grow while still retaining the personal local feel which has made us successful.” Last October, Propel revealed that 200 Degrees had been acquired by Caffe Nero operator, the Nero Group.