Liberation Group revenues hit £140m

Liberation Group, a privately owned premium pub operator and brewing group, has reported a “record” performance for the year ended 27 January 2024, as its total group revenues were up 22.5% to £140m versus the same period last year.

With sites stretching from Mayfair in London to St Aubin in Jersey, the group has also seen an 8.0% rise in LFL growth. This growth has been attributed to the “excellent” contributions made by all categories, with LFL sales for drinks at +8.6%, food at +6.2%, and lodging at +11.6%.

The growth also reflected the contribution of the pubs acquired from Cirrus Inns in December 2022 which have been fully integrated into the Butcombe Managed estate.

The group stated that since 42 of the 78 managed pubs in the group offer accommodation, the category has become “increasingly important” to the company and now accounts for a sizable amount of food and drink sales.

Meanwhile, the group’s Channel Island sites also continued to perform “very well” and reap the benefits of bringing modern casual dining to Jersey and Guernsey.

The Channel Island drinks businesses in Jersey and Guernsey improved +3% compared with the same period last year and continues to see the reward from years of long held customer relationships while also being able to target “new opportunities” in the on and off trade.

The Butcombe Brewing drinks business also delivered “strong” sales and volume growth with sales up 23% vs LFY.

The group said that growth reflects the “continued appeal of its brands, the quality of beers and a positive reaction to new product development in the keg ale market”.

Goram IPA Zero, the group’s alcohol-free IPA, performed particularly “strongly” in January with record volumes up 95% on the same period in FY23 in its managed estate as customers turned to ‘Dry January’ and ‘zebra drinking’, whereby customers alternate between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages throughout the night, in greater numbers.

Additionally, the tenanted division also recorded a 4.3% increase in sales compared with the same period last year.

The Liberation Group continues to focus on its strategy to rationalise the estate portfolio and drive sales and EBITDA across a smaller group of pubs. These are run by “quality” tenants who work closely with the Liberation teams.

Jonathan Lawson, CEO of the Liberation Group, said: “These are really pleasing numbers and my starting place should be a massive thank you to our incredible teams who demonstrate real passion for delivering a quality experience for our customers on a daily basis. It is particularly satisfying to see the way that mature parts of our business continue to grow such as CI drinks, tenancy and Butcombe, whilst also seeing new elements coming through so strongly, such as accommodation.

“We should remind ourselves that in 2016 we only had 10 rooms and now we have well over 400, with the potential to achieve 700 in the existing estate. We are increasingly seeing accommodation as a substantial lever for our overall managed business and see events and occasions as a fourth revenue stream in its own right along with drink, food and accommodation. The headwinds on cost have eased and the outlook is better than the one in our rear-view mirror and the improvement in consumer confidence is noted and welcomed. Our performance at Christmas was testament to the hard work from our teams, but also a reflection of the long-term trend in consumers valuing experiences more than stuff. We need to build on this and continue to provide amazing experiences for our customers.”