The Big Table Group losses widen in FY results

The Big Table Group has reported a pre-tax loss of £13.8m for the year to 29 October 2023, despite having increased its turnover from £26.1m to £31.6m. 

This comes after the group, which owns Café Rouge, Bella Italia, and Frankie and Benny’s, among other chains, also posted a loss of £6.1m in the previous 12 months.  

Big Table attributed its performance to rising inflation, which had commenced during 2022 but which had “greatly impacted” 2023. 

The cost of food, beverage and energy had also risen materially, the group said, which required it to “proactively respond and mitigate”. 

In its latest filing on Companies House, the group said: “We think our response to these rising costs was game changing, as we saw the procurement, operations and food development teams embrace the opportunity to work with our key suppliers and partners to unlock opportunities that not only mitigated inflation, but also enabled us to improve the menu and the guest experience.

“The success of this strategy meant that we were able to mitigate without simply passing on the rising costs to our guests, which is important when consumers are facing the same cost challenges.”

Big Table’s accounts were made up after its acquisition of Frankie and Benny’s and Chiquito from The Restaurant Group in September 2023.

As part of the deal, TRG paid a cash contribution of £7.5m to The Big Table Group to take the 75 underperforming sites off its hands. 

According to The Big Table Group, the start of 2024 was stronger than the prior year, as higher occupancy at Center Parcs during the festive period enabled a number of its restaurants to deliver record weekly sales.