Market Halls eyes top spot in UK food hall industry
Market Halls has set the ambitious target of becoming the UK’s largest food hall operator, as it plans to open between two and three new sites a year.
The company is targeting new sites in cities such as Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Liverpool, Leeds, Cardiff, Manchester, Glasgow, and Edinburgh.
Market Halls, which is backed by investment firm Gees Court, saw revenue growth from £8.6m to £22m in the 12 months to July 2023, an increase of 155%.
While this increase was partly attributable to Covid-related dips in trading the previous year, like-for-like sales were up by 40%.
The food halls operator has also enjoyed a strong start to the current financial year, reporting consecutive record trading weeks and like-for-like sales growth during the first four weeks of 38%.
Market Halls reported that sales at its most established venue in Victoria are now performing well above pre-Covid levels, whilst its site at Oxford Street continues to grow. The newest Market Halls destination in Canary Wharf is “comfortably surpassing expectations”, with annualised sales of over £11m.
Andy Lewis-Pratt, CEO of Market Halls, said: “To have seen the popularity of our venues surge despite the tough economic environment is testament to the strength of the Market Halls proposition. Our model is built to be resilient and it’s heartening to see the hard work of our teams paying off in numbers like these.
“With the momentum we built through FY22 and FY23 and the exceptionally strong start to FY24, we are confident in our ability to keep growing and becoming increasingly profitable as we work towards our goal of becoming the UK’s largest food hall operator.”
Esat Kolege, founding partner at Gees Court, added: “Now that we have three great venues demonstrating solid unit economics and cash flow, we are looking forward to building an exciting line up of new venues and potential partnerships with independent food halls across the UK.”