Revolution Bars swings to £32m loss in full-year results
Revolution Bars Group, the city centre bar chain that trades as Revolution and Revolución de Cuba, has announced a statutory loss before tax of £31.7m for the full-year ended 27 June 2020.
The group, which had operated over 74 properties at the period end, also saw total revenue fall from £151.4m in FY19 to £110.1m this year.
Six loss-making bars have since been dropped from the company’s portfolio, with the “immensely challenging” pressures of Covid-19 restrictions also forcing the firm into a CVA.
Rob Pitcher, CEO at the group, has blamed the critical condition of the hospitality industry on the “scandalous” and “severe” restrictions imposed by the Government.
He said: “The UK Government’s actions towards wet-led bars and late-night hospitality are nothing short of scandalous. It has little evidence to justify the severe restrictions that have been imposed and it is deliberately sacrificing businesses and people’s livelihoods.
“The recent grants of £1,000 per pub as compensation for being deprived of our most important trading period is derisory and insulting, and underlines a complete lack of understanding of the costs associated with businesses of this nature (even when they are shut) or any sympathy for the consequences of their inept decisions.”
The group expects to bounce back as Government restrictions are lifted, mirroring the £6.5m net bank debt reduction it achieved in H1 FY20.
Pitcher added that before the pandemic the firm was seeing “like-for-like sales growth”, a pattern he believes will put Revolution in a “strong position” once the current regulations are lifted.
