Wed 1st Dec 2021 - Sticks’n’Sushi reports UK now its biggest market in record year Sticks’n’Sushi reports UK now its biggest market in record year: Sushi chain Sticks’n’Sushi has reported the UK is now its biggest market as company turnover hits £57m in its most recent financial year ending at an unspecified date in 2021. The company said growth in the UK, employee retention and popular takeaway are among the keys to the record-breaking year with Ebitda of circa £5.9m. The chain operates twelve restaurants in Denmark, nine locations in the UK and soon three in Germany – it said the UK market has been crucial to its best-ever result. The launch of four “delivery kitchens” in the UK has been a key factor. “We opened our first location in London in March 2012, and we are starting to feel the effects of the hard and persistent work in a fiercely competitive market. Today our British restaurants have overtaken the Danish market in terms of revenue, and I expect it to remain our largest market in 2022,” said Andreas Karlsson, chief executive of Sticks’n’Sushi. The company described the past year as tumultuous for the restaurant industry, and restaurateurs across Europe were forced to rethink and change their strategy to accommodate new habits and restrictions. Sticks’n’Sushi already had a well-developed takeaway operation, and this proved successful during lockdown, it said. “There were long periods where people weren’t able to visit restaurants, but still wanted a restaurant-like experience. I believe we struck the right balance between taste, aesthetics, and convenience. This has been an important learning for us going forward we will continue developing our takeaway offerings,” said Anders Kjørup, chief operating officer of Sticks’n’Sushi. However, Kjørup stressed that Sticks’n’Sushi is a restaurant before anything else. “I still believe that we provide the best experiences in the restaurants. We will first and foremost be a restaurant that guests visit – with a clear-cut focus on gastronomy, aesthetics, and service,” added Kjørup. Karlsson said Germany will be the main focus in 2022 with an ambition to both expand and establish the brand further in the German capital. Furthermore, the chain will consolidate their Danish business and keep building on the excellent growth on the UK market. “We created a strong brand in the UK and in Denmark. It is our ambition to establish the same presence and brand in Berlin. We have opened two restaurants with a third on its way and are actively seeking a fourth and fifth location. Across all three markets we want to strengthen the business, ensure that our products are innovative and further develop our employees who have been crucial for our good results in the past year,” said Karlsson, who also highlights the new management as an important reason for success in the past year. The pre-tax result for the group is 21.7 MM DKK (£2,483,831), which is the best in the company’s history. The revenue of 503.2 kroner is an 4% increase compared to 2019/2020, where revenue was 484 MM DKK (£55,407,878). A key driver is the growth in its British business combined with the opening of four “delivery” kitchens in London. Sticks’n’Sushi opened its first restaurant in Nansensgade in Copenhagen in 1994 as one of the first restaurants in Copenhagen that specialize in Japanese sushi. The founders were the Japanese-Danish brothers Kim and Jens Rahbek Hansen and Thor Andersen. Today the company is owned by the private equity fund Maj Invest Equity. Sticks’n’Sushi has approximately 1,100 employees, operates 23 restaurants and has more than two million guests annually.