Be At One reports like-for-likes up 6%: Be At One, the specialist cocktail bar group, has reported like-for-like sales increased 6% for the year ending 2 April 2017. Turnover increased 24% to £36.9m, compared with £29.8m the previous year. Store adjusted Ebitda rose 20% to £9.0m, while group adjusted Ebitda was up 9% to £5.1m. Three new bars opened in the period – in Birmingham, Liverpool and Nottingham. Since the year-end, a new bar in Bournemouth has launched alongside a second site in Leeds, taking the total number of sites to 33, including 17 in London. Gross profit margin remained “strong”, at 72.6%. The company stated: “We continue to actively seek new bars in locations that culturally match our offering and have a strong pipeline for the coming calendar year. The group is focused on managing its bar portfolio and regularly reviews its estate. During the period the company disposed of two sites and made an impairment against a further two. The increase (in turnover) was driven by a combination of new bars, the full-year effect of our sites that opened in the previous period, and strong like-for-like sales performance from the existing estate. Since the year-end, group turnover and like-for-like sales growth have continued to build on a similar trajectory. Post year-end, the company secured a £20m debt facility package through a successful refinancing package with Santander. This demonstrates the strength of the business and supports the next stage of growth as we look to double our portfolio of bars over the next three to five years.” Chief operating officer Andrew Stones said: “The group has witnessed strong and uninterrupted revenue growth for more than a decade, delivering consistent like-for-like sales growth, and is well-positioned for continued expansion. With ambitious growth plans for the future, we are tremendously excited for the next stage of the Be At One story. The headwinds confronting the wider leisure and hospitality industry have been well documented but we are confident in our business model and pressures on consumer spending are likely to work in our favour, with consumers seeking out differentiated, high-quality experiences.” Be At One was founded in 1998 by Steve Locke, Leigh Miller and Rhys Oldfield.

Inn Collection Group to operate new £4m Northumberland site: North east hospitality company Inn Collection Group (ICG), which is backed by private equity firm Kings Park Capital, has been confirmed as operators of a new-build £4m Northumberland pub with rooms. Arch, developers of the site in the marina town of Amble, has chosen The Inn Collection Group to run the pub, which is set to open in October next year. The seven-strong Inn Collection Group will now add the development to its portfolio of pubs with rooms, which includes new-build schemes The Commissioners Quay Inn in Blyth and The Hog’s Head Inn in Alnwick. The addition of the 30-bedroom Amble development to the group’s estate takes its total bedroom number to 232. Located in Coquet Enterprise Park Quay Road, an area earmarked for redevelopment, the two-storey building will have a mix of 30 double, twin, accessible and family bedrooms across two floors. A ground-floor bar and eatery will provide covers for up to 150 diners inside and 100 outside, while offering informal meeting spaces. Inn Collection Group chief executive Keith Liddell said: “Our brand is synonymous with delivering a value-for-money, quality service and attention to detail, principles we look forward to applying in Amble. Our eat, drink, sleep and explore model will be a tremendous addition to Amble and the surrounding area’s leisure and business markets and we look forward to revealing further details about the inn in due course.” Arch chairman Richard Wearmouth added: “This development will bring quality, new accommodation that will undoubtedly mean more visitors and therefore more business for Amble. The inn will not only enhance Coquet Enterprise Park as part of our long-term plans for the area but it will bring much-needed jobs to Amble.”