Turtle Bay eyes Scottish growth as it targets more sites
Turtle Bay has said it will explore opening more sites in Scotland, following the success of its first restaurant north of the border in Glasgow.
The Caribbean-inspired restaurant chain said it remains “highly active” in exploring opportunities to bring the brand to more parts of the UK.
The group added that, according to its research, half of the “aware nonuser group” – that is, those who are aware of the brand but have never visited – have not been to a Turtle Bay as they do not live in close proximity to one.
Turtle Bay said this research provides it with confidence to enter into long leasehold agreements and commit major investment into new sites.
This comes as the chain releases its results for the financial year ending 31 March 2024, a period during which it opened new sites in Blackpool, Camden, Lincoln and Glasgow.
Turtle Bay also invested £8.4m on new and existing sites, ending the year with 52 restaurants.
During the period, the chain reported record high sales of £93.7m, a year-on-year increase of 6.1%.
Turtle Bay chief executive Nick Crossley said: “Results this year have been much as we expected.
“Unlike many of our competitors, we bounced back quicker and stronger following the pandemic and experienced industry-leading like-for-like growth in our estate with further like-for-like growth the year after.
“It was always going to be hard against these tough comparatives, as such our like-for-like sales declined by 3.9 per cent. Our sales in the last year continue to outstrip pre-pandemic by 27.7 per cent on a like-for-like basis.”