Today’s news in brief – 03/06/24

Liberation Group’s revenues rose 20% to £144.4m in the year ended 27 January, with strong underlying growth resulting in LFL Managed Pub EBITDA increasing 19%. The group’s UK managed pubs produced a “strong” performance, with an 8% increase in LFL growth, ahead of the industry CGA RSM Hospitality Business Tracker in the UK, on the back of “excellent” contributions in all categories.

Cooks Coffee’s sales in the UK and Ireland rose 19% to £28.1m in the year ended 31 March. Store sales in the UK grew 21% with like for like sales up 6%. The pipeline of new outlets that were open for the full years FY23 and FY24 contributed 21.6% of total sales in FY24. Meanwhile Irish store sales increased by 11%, totalling £9.6m. Like-for-like store sales were up 6.8% compared to FY23. 

Arc Inspirations will open new sites in Nottingham and Sheffield this year as part of its city centre growth strategy, which will see the group operate 50 bars by 2030. This comes after Arc recently secured a total of £7m in extra funding to accelerate its expansion across the UK. The capital will support the group’s continued growth plans, and also fund a major programme of refurbishments.

The White Lion in Stockport will reopen after being vacant for 10 years. The pub, which is the town’s oldest dating back to the 15th-Century, was acquired by Stockport Council as part of the £7m investment into the regeneration of the Market Place and Underbanks.