Pubs and Bars
The Pubs and Bars section on Catering Today covers the business developments, market trends, and operational challenges shaping the UK’s pub and bar sector. It reports on acquisitions, brand expansions, drinks innovation, and regulatory updates, alongside insights into staffing, sustainability, and consumer behaviour. With expert commentary and commercial analysis, Catering Today provides industry professionals with the intelligence needed to navigate a competitive and fast-evolving on-trade environment.
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Jan- 2025 -28 January
Urban Pubs and Bars hails ‘record’ FY profits of £8.7m
Urban Pubs and Bars has announced a “record-breaking” rise in EBITDA of 26% to £8.7m for the financial year ended 28 April 2024. The group also reported a 16% rise in turnover to £60.5m and a 4% uplift in like-for-like sales in the period. Since the financial year-end, the independent…
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24 January
Stonegate Group sees LFL sales rise 9.7% over Xmas
Stonegate Group has reported a 9.7% uplift in like-for-like sales in its managed pubs portfolio for the 2024 festive period, with the group’s Craft Union business seeing record sales numbers over the Christmas week. It comes as, across Stonegate’s managed estate, some 234 sites reported record-breaking sales weeks over the…
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23 January
Wetherspoon LFL sales rise 5.1% in H1
Wetherspoon has reported that like-for-like sales rose 5.1% over the 25-week period to 19 January 2025, due to a 4.5% uplift in bar sales, 5.6% rise in food sales, and a 11.7% sales jump in gambling machines. The pub group also benefited from a 6.1% uplift in like-for-like sales for…
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23 January
The Revel Collective sees strong Christmas sales but warns of £4m Budget impact
The Revel Collective has reported “robust” festive trading but has warned that the changes announced in the annual Budget will have a £4m impact on its annual profit. For the weeks from 7 December 2024 to 3 January 2025, the group saw its group like-for-like sales increase by 1.6%. Prebooked…
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22 January
December delivers 3.2% growth after late festive surge for pubs
Britain’s leading restaurant, pub and bar groups achieved year-on-year sales growth of 3.2% in December 2024, according to data from the CGA RSM Hospitality Business.The like-for-like figure is the Tracker’s highest point since May and is just above Britain’s general rate of inflation. It represents a solid performance for the…
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22 January
Marston’s sales rise 3% in Q1 despite poor weather
Marston’s has expressed confidence in delivering FY25 market expectations, as total sales rose 3% across managed and partnership pubs for the 16-week period to 18 January. Like-for-like sales during the same period also rose 2%, reflecting “strong” trading over the festive period offset by poor weather conditions in November and…
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21 January
Greene King acquires The Dirty Bottles
Greene King has acquired The Dirty Bottles pub in Alnwick, Northumberland as part of a seven-figure investment deal. The pub, thought to have been constructed in the 1660s, has been owned by local entrepreneur Mark Jones since 2014. It has undergone many changes, including the acquisition and incorporation of 34…
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15 January
Mitchells and Butlers sales rise 3.9% in Q1
Mitchells and Butlers (M&B) has seen a like-for-like sales growth of 3.9% over the 15 weeks ended 11 January 2025. Over the core three-week Christmas period, sales increased 10.4%, a figure built on “numerous record sales performances through the estate and the brand portfolio”. The group said that sales remained…
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15 January
Fuller’s sales rise 10.2% over Xmas period
Fuller’s has reported “excellent” trading over the five-week Christmas and New Year period, which delivered like-for-like sales growth of 10.2%. It comes as like-for-like sales rose 5.9% during the 41-week period to 11 January 2025, continuing Fuller’s “strong momentum and market outperformance”. The group also revealed that it has a…
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13 January
Arc Inspirations sales rise record 10.8% in December
Bar group Arc Inspirations has reported a “record” sales rise of 10.8% for the five-week period to the end of December 2024, with the help of three new flagship openings. The operator of Banyan, BOX, and Manahatta saw total sales hit £2m, with average weekly sales across its 19 venues…
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