Be At One reports 15% like-for-like growth in December: Cocktail bar group Be At One, which is backed by Piper Private Equity, has reported an increase of 15% in like-for-like sales in the five weeks of December. Group sales for the company, that currently trades 23 bars, increased 30% to £2.6m. The group, which has continued its successful expansion outside of London in 2014, opening in Bristol, Milton Keynes and Bath, has a pipeline of eight sites for the next 12 months. December also saw Be At One open a bar in Greek Street, Soho under its late-license club format, with a 3am license six days a week. Steve Locke, founding director, said: “We are particularly pleased with our December performance, which we believe has come as a result of the operational stability that we have within the business. We are also really proud of the menu innovations that we have made that have been so well-received by our guests and the marketing that we have been doing around the menu in order to promote our new cocktails. We are now looking forward to 2015, which has already had an exceptional start with our Try January campaign.” Be At One has launched a #TryJanuary campaign to encourage guests to try new cocktails during the month of January, when many people traditionally abstain from drinking. The group is using a feature on its smartphone app called Be Appventurous where guests shake their phone to generate a random cocktail suggestion which they can get for £5. The offer, which is usually only valid once a day, will be available for an hour every day in the month of January in the hour after the regular happy hour. The initiative has been picked up by many multiple operators in the hospitality industry, including Punch Taverns, Charles Wells, Brakspear, The Laine Pub Company, Craft Beer Co, MeatLiquor and North Bar, as well as independent pubs across the UK.

 

Boston Tea Party Ebitda near £1m: Boston Tea Party, the award-winning Bristol-based cafe chain, has reported 100% growth in group Ebitda to just shy of £1m for the year ending 22 October 2014. Like-for-like sales growth of 11.5% for the year was driven by both increased transaction values and increases in footfall. Four recent new openings, not yet included in like-for-like figures, took the estate total number to 15 in 2014 and drove total net annual sales up 39% to £9.4m. A spokesman said: “Ebitda conversion improved significantly due to growing scale and sound business controls in place which also enable new openings to trade profitably faster. The exceptional sales momentum has continued into the new financial year with the two weeks encompassing Christmas showing like-for-like sales growth of 28%.” Managing director Sam Roberts said: “Our customers are treating us more and more as a destination enjoying the ambience created by the unique design and fit out of each of our cafes as a breath of fresh air compared to the many identical chains to be found on the high street. Our high quality ethical values such as serving only free range meat and organic milk is something that customers are caring more and more about and sets us apart from others.” Boston Tea Party plans to open three new sites this year, one in Plymouth, a third site in Birmingham and a final one to be selected from the existing pipeline. Roberts added: “This year has been our best ever on almost all metrics and provides the clearest indication yet of the potential for future roll outs, making this a very exciting time in the lifecycle of Boston Tea Party.”