Coaching Inn Group reports December sales up 35%, like-for-likes increase 4.4%: Independent coaching inns operator The Coaching Inn Group has reported December was a record month for the company with net sales of £2.1m, representing a 35% increase in total sales on the same period last year. Sales on a like-for-like basis were up 4.4% with average weekly net sales coming in at £34,500 per site. Finance director Edward Walsh told Propel: “Our Christmas party nights in particular proved extremely popular with each of the three Saturday’s prior to Christmas generating net sales of £100,000 across the group. The utilisation of our central reservations office to take Christmas bookings in the lead up to the festive period was particularly helpful in driving our sales effort, and a big part of our ability to drive good like-for-like growth over an already successful year in 2015, with more than 10,000 meal and accommodation packages sold in the month. New Year’s Eve was again the busiest day over the period with net sales beating £115,000 over the day, setting a new daily sales record for the group.” The Coaching Inn Group has 13 venues across the UK and has built a strong reputation in the industry for transforming the fortunes of traditional coaching inns in busy market towns. The company, which benefited from an initial investment of £4.5m from the Business Growth Fund (BGF) in March 2015, secured a further £10m from the BGF in December to support a £50m expansion plan, including a target of 25 sites before the end of March 2019.