Revolution Bars refurbs outperform estate
Revolution Bars Group has said its refurbished sites have “outperformed” the rest of its estate, as it delivers a pre-close update for the 2023 financial year.
The group, which operates 68 bars and 21 pubs, said it had paused its refurbishment programme in January having completed five “significant” refurbs in the previous six months. It said it is committed to restarting the programme when economic headwinds subside.
Revolution Bars Group, which trades mainly through its Revolution, Revolución de Cuba, and Peach Pubs brands, said it was limiting capital investment to where it is essential to “maintain and enhance” key assets in its estate.
Revolution previously announced its acquisition of Peach Pubs in October 2022 in a £16.5m deal. The pub brand has locations in affluent areas in the home counties, and also operates in the premium accommodation market.
The group said full year like-for-like sales at Peach Pubs were 14% ahead of pre-Pandemic levels, while overall group like-for-like sales fell 8.7%.
Rob Pitcher, CEO of Revolution Bars Group, said the Peach Pubs acquisition was “well timed” given the impact of the economic challenges to the younger guests, and while the working from home trend is exacerbated by uncertainty on the rail network.
Revolution is expecting earnings (ebitda) for the 2023 financial year to be in line with market expectations of £6.6m.
The group anticipates that trading conditions will continue to remain challenging in the 2024 financial year, and said it is looking forward to the all-important Christmas trading period which it hopes will be the first uninterrupted peak period since 2019.