Revolution Bars posts upbeat trading update
Overall, two-year LFL sales for the period from 19 July 2021 to 1 January 2022 remained positive at +1.4%
Revolution Bars Group, the operator of 67 premium bars, trading mainly under the Revolution and Revolucion de Cuba brands, has announced that like-for-like (LFL) sales for the majority of the half, from 19 July 2021, when restrictions were relaxed in England, to 13 November were very strong at +14% versus the comparable period two years ago.
In a trading update for the period from 19 July 2021 to 1 January 2022 , the business said it was “performing as well as could be anticipated given the additional restrictions imposed on our guests in the Christmas period”.
The company said that sales over the Christmas period were impacted by the move to ‘Plan B’ including the return to the ‘Work From Home’ instruction, implementation of Vaccine Passports for late night bars and government messaging which Revolution said “unhelpfully encouraged the limiting of social interactions”.
LFL sales for the six-week period ending 1 January were -23% when compared with the same period 2 years ago, the last unaffected Christmas period.
The company added the impact of the Government actions was “most felt in the cancellation of office parties”. Pre-booked revenue, an indicator of corporate Christmas parties, was -39% for the period to 1 January 2022 when compared to 2019/20.
Moving forward, Revolution Bars said it has a “strong pipeline of new sites building and are currently in negotiations on five sites”, and is expecting to sign the lease on a first new site imminently.
The group said it intends to publish its interim results for the first half on 1 March 2022.
Rob Pitcher, CEO of Revolution Bars Group, said: he was “proud” of his team’s “resilience in the face of the confusing government messaging and the disappointment of the wave of corporate booking cancellations it caused during December”.
He said: “The only comfort is that many of these parties have already been rebooked and it was pleasing to see the number of general guest bookings significantly up versus 2019 demonstrating that our young guest base remains as enthused and excited about our offering as we are.
“Yesterday’s news of the scrapping of the work from home guidance and the cancellation of all other restrictions is very welcome for our business and will actively help rebuild consumer confidence. It is imperative that going forward there are no further restrictions as we all learn to live alongside Covid 19.”
He added: “We continue to urge the Government to support the recovery of the hospitality industry by leaving VAT at 12.5% and retaining business rates relief in line with the current levels of support.
“Our robust performance in H1 proves the resilience of our business, that our guests enjoy the fun and memorable experience we create which results in a highly cash generative business when operating free of restrictions.”
