Soho House reports strong fourth quarter with lfl revenue up 47%, name change to become effective ‘in a few weeks’: Soho House, owned by New York-listed Membership Collective Group (MCG), has reported a strong FY2022 fourth quarter, with like-for-like revenue up 47%, as it gears up for a name change becoming effective “in a few weeks”. Its fourth quarter results showed total revenues of $270.4m, with 46.5% year-over-year growth, while in-House revenues grew to $120.7m, up 35.6% year-on-year. Total Members grew to 226,830 from 211,351 in the third quarter of 2022 and 45.6% year-on-year, while Soho House members grew to 161,975 from 152,165, and 31.9% year-on-year. MCG Membership waitlist now sits at an all-time high of 86,000 and retention rates continue around pre-pandemic levels. Revenue per available room was 21.6% higher year-on-year on a like-for-like basis, while adjusted Ebitda was $23.2m, up $20.6m from the fourth quarter of 2021. Net gain attributable to Membership Collective Group Inc was $13.5m, or $0.07 per share, inclusive of a $58.6m non-cash foreign exchange gain. Soho House Stockholm and Miami Pool House opened in the fourth quarter of 2022, followed by Soho House Bangkok in February 2023. Andrew Carnie, chief executive of MCG, said: “We had a strong fourth quarter, with revenues up 47% year on year and adjusted Ebidta outperforming our guidance range. Demand remains strong despite concerns around the economic environment, and we ended the year with a 32% increase in Soho House members. I would like to thank our members for their continued support and our teams for their hard work and passion throughout the year. Looking ahead to 2023, we’re confident in the resilience of our growth and are more focused than ever on improving member value and driving profitability. We have also decided to change our company name to Soho House & Co, which will become effective in a few weeks, taking us back to our roots and reflecting the unique brand that Nick (Jones) spent 28 years creating.” Nick Jones, founder of MCG, added: “It’s great to see Soho House continue to go from strength to strength and I could not be prouder of Andrew and the wider team. Members have always been at the heart of everything we do; introducing new menus to better reflect our Houses, more focus on training, and the evolving design of our new openings, proves this continues to be our philosophy.” It comes as the business reported total revenues increased 73.4% year-on-year to $972.2m in the year ending January 1 2023. In-House revenues grew to $426.6m, up 95.7% year-on-year, while adjusted Ebitda was $60.7m, up from a $24.0m loss in fiscal year 2021. Membership revenues of $272.8m increased 44.2% year-on-year, accounting for 28.1% of total revenues. Revenue per available room was 29.5% higher year-on-year on a like-for-like basis. Net loss attributable to Membership Collective Group Inc was $220.6m, or $1.10 per share, inclusive of a $69.6m non-cash foreign exchange charge. During the year, it opened seven new Houses: Nashville, Brighton Beach House, Holloway House, Little House Balham, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Miami Pool House.

Latest edition of Propel’s Turnover & Profits Blue Book to feature updated figures for 45 companies: The latest edition of Propel’s Turnover & Profits Blue Book will feature updated figures for 45 companies. Premium subscribers will receive the next edition of the Blue Book tomorrow (Friday, 10 March), at midday. It now features 709 companies that are turning over a total of £40.2bn. The Blue Book shows 455 companies in profit and 254 reporting losses. The Blue Book is updated each month and ranks companies by turnover, profit and profit conversion, listing directors’ earnings for the past five years. Premium subscribers also receive access to four other databases: the Propel Multi-Site Database, produced in association with Virgate; the New Openings Database; the Who’s Who of UK Food and Beverage; and the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £895 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The single subscription rate is £445 plus VAT for operators and £545 plus VAT for suppliers. Email jo.charity@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription. Subscribers also receive access to Propel’s library of Friday Wrap interviews and now also have access to a curated video library of the sector’s finest leaders and entrepreneurs, offering their insights on running outstanding businesses in the sector. Premium subscribers are also to be given exclusive access to the recording and slides to Propel Multi-Club Conferences. Premium subscribers also receive their morning newsletter 11 hours early, at 7pm the evening before; regular video content and regular exclusive columns from Propel group editor Mark Wingett.

Domino’s Pizza says reset of relationship with franchisees led to strong 2022, Q4 highest ever quarter with lfls up 13.9%: Domino’s Pizza has said that the reset of its relationship with its franchisees underpinned a strong performance in 2022, in what was “an exceptionally busy year for the business”, which ended with like-for-like sales up 13.9% in Q4. The business said it continued to make strong gains in UK takeaway market share, which rose to 8% in Q4 227, up from 6.8% in Q4 21 in a challenging market. The company said that strong trading and market share gains throughout Q4 22 were driven by continued focus on “value, digital initiatives, growth in collections, Just Eat roll-out, collaboration with our franchise partners and the men’s football World Cup”. This led to Q4 22 orders of 18.5 million, the highest ever quarter for the business, with total orders up 4.1% and collection orders up 27.9% versus Q421. It said that like-for-like system sales, excluding split stores and VAT, in the first ten weeks of its current year increased by 10.8% with orders up 2.5% and new app customers up 46%. The company said: “This has been driven by our franchise partners’ focus on service, our focus on digital, strong national value campaigns, collections growth and the continued incremental benefit of being on the Just Eat platform. Working with our franchise partners we expect to continue taking market share and driving the benefits of the Domino’s system to offer our customers the best possible value.” For the 52 weeks to 25 December 2022, like-for-like system sales (excluding the change in the VAT rate) were up 5.3% on the previous year to £1.456bn, while group revenue climbed 7% to £600.3m. The company said that a 4.6% fall in underlying Ebitda £130.1m was due to an investment in cloud-based technology platforms (£5.2m) and a lower contribution from its German associate (£2.4m). It said that underlying pre-tax profit, which was down 13.2% to £98.9m, was further affected by an additional £2.4m accelerated amortisation and impairment relating to the technology platforms, and an increase in interest of £4.9m. The company said: “In FY22, 90% of sales were digital, but Domino’s is still in the early stages of becoming a truly ecommerce business. We have 13.6 million active digital customers in the UK and Ireland and we are now building data capabilities to enhance the customer experience and drive an increase in order frequency.” Elias Diaz Sese, interim chief executive, said: “The reset of the relationship with our franchise partners in December 2021 has underpinned our strong performance in what has been an exceptionally busy year for the business. We have accelerated the execution of our strategy with the return of national value campaigns, growth in collections, our launch on Just Eat and increased store openings, alongside a strong focus on service from our franchise partners. At a time when customers have been looking for great value, Domino’s has delivered, and you can see the results in the numbers we’re announcing today. We have made significant strides in digital – strengthening our internal operations and enhancing our customers’ experience, especially with our app. We are accelerating our digital journey with increased investment and new eCommerce projects which will deliver sustainable, commercial benefits over time. Our outstanding Q4 performance gives the business powerful momentum into this year and there’s a lot to be excited about. Strong national value campaigns, continued growth of collections, accelerated new store openings, digital initiatives and a full year on the Just Eat platform are all set to drive further growth. We are confident that our asset-light business model, our franchise partners’ relentless focus on service, and digitally focused investment will deliver further market share gains and create value for shareholders.” Domino’s features in the Propel Turnover & Profits Blue Book. Its turnover of £600.3m is the 16th highest in the database. Its pre-tax profit of £98.9m is the sixth highest in the database. The Blue Book ranks companies by turnover, profit and profit conversion, listing directors’ earnings for the past five years. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £895 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The single subscription rate is £445 plus VAT for operators and £545 plus VAT for suppliers. Email jo.charity@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription.

 

JW Lees reopens Manchester bar following £700,000 redevelopment: Manchester-based brewer and retailer JW Lees has reopened Rain Bar in the city following a £700,000 redevelopment, creating more than 20 new jobs. Located on Great Bridgewater Street, Rain Bar was first opened by JW Lees in 1999 when it converted the former umbrella factory next to the Bridgewater Hall. The revamp includes a centrepiece bar, comfortable dining and drinking areas, open fireplaces and a choice of events spaces, plus new bi-fold doors leading onto the canalside terrace. William Lees-Jones, managing director at JW Lees, said: “We first opened Rain Bar in 1999 when it was welcomed into Manchester’s growing hospitality trade, winning The Publican Award in 2000 for the best new pub/bar in the UK and Manchester’s City Life award for the best beer garden in central Manchester.  23 years and £700,000 later we are re-opening ready to welcome guests old and new.”

Tom Sellers confirms opening date for Parisian-style rotisserie restaurant in London’s Seven Dials: Two-Michelin starred chef Tom Sellers has confirmed an opening date for his new Parisian-style rotisserie restaurant in London’s Seven Dials. Story Cellar will open at 17 Neal’s Yard on 1 April. The new venture is a continuation of Seller’s first restaurant, Restaurant Story, which celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2023 with a major refurbishment and the addition of an upstairs dining area with outdoor seating, with the space reopening in the autumn. Restaurant Story sous chef Stephen Naylor will come over as head chef at Story Cellar, preparing a host of classic dishes interpreted by Sellars. Alongside rotisserie chicken, served with house salad and French fries, half or whole, the menu will feature a classic Terrine of the season, which at launch will be rabbit, carrot, prune and foie gras, house bread and cultured butter, house cured meats and Carlingford oysters. A Coravin system will offer guests the opportunity to try rare and exceptional wines by the glass, which would usually only be available in full bottle format, while an expansive walk-in cellar also allows guests to store their own personal collections at the restaurant, cared for by a world-class sommelier team.