Exclusive – Rare Restaurants reports like-for-like sales up 5% in last quarter, ‘regularly experiencing weeks with cover growth in the multiple thousands’ as new openings are eyed: Rare Restaurants marketing director Mark Sansom has told Propel that the Gaucho owner has seen like-for-like sales grow 5% in last quarter, and that it is “regularly experiencing weeks with cover growth in the multiple thousands” as the company eyes new openings. The company, which earlier this year closed the two remaining sites operated under the M Restaurant banner to focus on growth for its core Gaucho business, operates 20 Gaucho sites across the UK. Sansom said: “Last year's trading represented a challenging period for us in line with the rest of the premium dining sector, but we are positive about the future. After a management restructure and the appointment of Baton Berisha as chief executive in March 2025, the business has seen a dramatic improvement, with like-for-like sales 5% up over the last quarter. We have improved our offer to guests and are driving a fresh face of the brand through an improved menu offer. This, alongside refurbishing key terraces and improving restaurant infrastructure, has seen us regularly experiencing weeks with cover growth in the multiple thousands.” It comes as the company reported its pre-tax loss more than doubled in the year to 29 December 2024, from £7,427,000 in 2023 to £14,504,000. Turnover was down from £75,319,000 in 2023 to £72,541,000 while Ebitda before exceptional items and pre-opening costs dropped from £9,127,000 to £6,068,000. This included a £5,708,000 loss on impairment of tangible and intangible assets. The company received £1,922,000 in insurance proceeds for water damage at one of its London sites (2023: £2,705,000) and made £178,000 profit from the sale of a vineyard (2023: £257,000 profit on sale of a subsidiary). There were no pre-opening costs (2023: £1,443,000) and no exceptional loss on disposal of fixed assets (2023: £4,554,000). Exceptional items of £1,637,000 (2023: £2,894,000) included restructuring fees of £1,247,000 (2023: £482,000). Administration expenses also jumped from £37,295,000 to £41,402,000. No dividends were paid (2023: nil). Following the closure of the two remaining non-Gaucho branded sites in May 2025, the directors appointed a liquidator in June 2025 with the intention of winding up MW Restaurants and its subsidiaries. Director Stephen Cramer said: “The group’s decision to close its remaining non-Gaucho branded restaurants and re-focus its operational team will improve the group's performance going forwards. The directors are focused on the improvement and expansion of its Gaucho branded restaurants. The group will continue to evolve and grow the existing estate as well as expand through new openings.” Gaucho (Rare Restaurants) features in the Premium Club Turnover & Profits Blue Book, which is available exclusively to Premium Club members and features 1,163 companies. Rare Restaurants’ turnover of £72,541,000 is the 173rd 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.

 

Former England cricket captain and Sixes investor Sir Andrew Strauss joins speaker line-up for final Propel Multi-Club Conference of 2025, open for bookings: Sir Andrew Strauss, former England cricket captain and England director of cricket, has joined the speaker line-up for the final Propel Multi-Club Conference of 2025, which is open for bookings. Sir Andrew will talk about building teamwork, mental resilience, strategies for success, managing mavericks, investing in experiential cricket concept Sixes and the forthcoming Ashes. The all-day conference takes place on Wednesday, 5 November, at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel in London’s Kensington. For the full speaker schedule, click here. Operators can book up to three free places per company while Premium subscribers who are operators can book up to four free places. To book, email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com.

 

BrewDog announces job cuts: BrewDog has announced job cuts across its business after posting a £37m loss last year. It is the fifth year running that the company has posted pre-tax losses – now totalling £148m. BrewDog has not confirmed how many jobs will go. Staff were informed about the cuts in an email from chief executive James Taylor. The announcement comes after the departure of BrewDog co-founder Martin Dickie and the closure of ten bars across the UK earlier this year. Taylor told staff that a difficult decision had been made to “right-size” parts of the business. He said: “We’ve taken time to review our structure and ensure we're focusing our energy and investment in the right areas. These changes have affected a number of roles across several departments. We don’t take these decisions lightly, but we are confident that the steps we're taking now will help us operate more simply, stay focused, and drive the business forward.” The cuts follow the sale this week of the Kinrara rewilding estate in the Highlands, which BrewDog bought for £8.8m in 2020 and named the Lost Forest.

 

The Berkeley and The Connaught owner makes a loss as occupancy levels drop, secures £29m cash injection for ongoing developments and to service debt: Selene Holdings, the owner of The Berkeley and The Connaught hotels in London, made a loss in the year to 31 December 2024 as occupancy levels dropped. A pre-tax profit of £2,556,000 in 2023 turned into a loss of £15,197,000 as turnover dropped from £144,560,000 to £134,170,000. Of this, £76,403,000 came from rooms (2023: £87,837,000) and £45,458,000 from food and beverage (2023: £47,610,000). Occupancy across the group fell from 70.3% to 62.1% and revenue available per room growth, which was down 1.7% in 2023, dropped a further 16% in 2024. Total revenue growth at The Connaught was down 5.6% (2023: up 5.2%), with turnover at £73.1m (2023: £77.4m), and at The Berkeley it was down 9.1% (2023: up 13.6%), with turnover at £61.1m (2023: £67.2m) in the year ended 31 December 2024. Director Fady Bakhos said performance at The Berkeley was “affected by the finalisation of the construction works to the adjacent property and reduced room availability, with all efforts taken to retain cost efficiency”. He added: “The group will continue to evolve and re-establish its position in London following the end of extensive development works to the hotel and adjacent Emory Hotel and of the public spaces in prior years and paving around the hotel in 2024. The director believes that the worldwide economic and geopolitical events will continue to affect the group’s hotels’ trading conditions, but that the hotels are well placed to address those risks and/or leverage the opportunities accordingly.” Since the year end, the group has received £29.3m of capital injections from its parent company, which have been utilised for the ongoing development of the hotels and to service debt.