Wed 1st Oct 2025 - TRG outlines growth plans for Brunning & Price and Wagamama as it reports turnover increases to £868.1m TRG aiming to open up to six pubs per year from 2026 for Brunning & Price and has ‘strong’ Wagamama pipeline as it reports turnover increases to £868.1m: The Restaurant Group (TRG) is aiming to open up to six pubs per year from 2026 for its Brunning & Price business and has a “strong” pipeline of sites for Wagamama for which it is exploring further international opportunities. It comes as TRG reported revenue from continuing operations for the year ending 29 December 2024 grew to £868.1m (2023: £824.0m), which represented an increase of 5.4% on the prior year, with growth across all divisions and Wagamama and Brunning & Price continuing to outperform the market. Statutory operating profit stood at £13.5m (2023: £29.8m), which the group said was due to the strong trading performance and the results of cost control, offset by the impact of rental adjustments in respect of IFRS 16. Pre-tax losses grew to £32.2m from £19.6m the previous year. Wagamama saw like-for-like sales growth of 2.8%, Brunning & Price delivered like-for-like sales growth of 5.1%, concessions saw like-for-like sales growth of 7.6% and Barburrito had like-for-like sales growth of 8.4%. In his report accompanying the accounts, chief financial officer Mark Chambers stated: “Although the economic backdrop remains challenging, we continue to focus on food quality and great customer service, while managing our cost base efficiently to maintain margins. We have continued our measured approach to new store openings while investing in new technology to support customer initiatives, such as our new Wagamama loyalty scheme, ‘soul club’. Wagamama continues to grow the number of restaurants in the UK, while remaining focused on the existing estate. In 2024, Wagamama opened ten new sites in line with the proven strategy of finding sites that have multiple reasons for guests to visit. Wagamama has a strong pipeline of future sites and in 2025 will open six new sites. Our US business was previously managed through a 17.5% investment in a US associate entity, Wagamama USA, which had full control of the operations of the US business. On 28 May 2024, we acquired the 82.5% interest held by the majority investor, thereby bringing our US locations under full control of the group. At year end, our Wagamama franchise business comprised 55 sites across Europe and the Middle East. We opened five new international sites in 2024, with openings in the UAE, Italy, Cyprus, Greece and Malta. We are exploring opportunities to further accelerate our international footprint, and we've signed a deal to enter the Indian market. Alongside the existing Brunning & Price model, we believe there is also a growth opportunity In the provision of bedroom sales beyond what we currently have in the estate, and the intention is to build a pipeline of new openings to include this additional income stream, with an aspiration to deliver three to six new sites per year from 2026. In our concessions business, our team remains focused on renewing contracts, refurbishing existing premises, and securing new space, growing our presence in an increasingly competitive market. Barburrito’s growth was particularly strong in the delivery side of the business with like-for-like growth of 28.4%, indicating the brand's ability to adapt to the quickly changing landscape of the quick service restaurant industry. Following year end, the group completed a restructuring on 30 January 2025 under which the business was split into three discrete divisional silos, comprising, respectively, Wagamama, pubs, and concessions and Barburrito, each with their own financing arrangements, which will report for FY2025 onwards as separate businesses.” No dividend was paid (2023: nil). TRG features in the Propel Turnover & Profits Blue Book, which is available exclusively to Premium Club subscribers and features 1,163 companies. TRG’s turnover of £868.1m is the 19th highest in the database. A Premium Club subscription costs an annual sum of £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Premium Club for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or supplier. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.