Exclusive – Ivy Collection grows turnover by more than £100m driven by expansion of Ivy Asia brand, banking facilities extended: The Ivy Collection, the Richard Caring-backed restaurant chain, grew its turnover by more than £100m in the year ending 1 January 2023, driven by the expansion of its Ivy Asia brand. Turnover was up from £200,387,000 in 2022 to £302,927,000, while adjusted Ebitda rose from £37,941,000 to £54,7878,000, and its pre-tax profit increased from £20,434,000 to £29,046,000. This compares to turnover of £198,713,000, adjusted Ebitda of £34,630,000 and a pre-tax profit of £17,230,000 in the last full year before covid, ending 29 December 2019. The company received £247,000 in government grants compared to £22,581,000 in 2022. No dividends were paid (2022: nil). Director Chris Robinson, in his statement accompanying the accounts, said: “Trading was very strong throughout the year as customer confidence returned and restaurants could return to utilising their full capacities. There was strong growth compared to pre-covid results in 2019, driven by the expansion of the Ivy Asia brand, opening five new Ivy Asia restaurants, as well as an additional two Ivy Brasseries during the period. Despite the impact of energy cost increases, the group was fortunate to be locked into a fixed priced contract on both gas and electricity, avoiding the larger scale price increases the sector may have experienced. However, there was still a level of increase compared to previous years. The group also saw inflationary led increases on supplier costs and new build costs. Our pricing strategy was maintained to ensure consistent profitability compared to pre covid years, while remaining competitive.” The company added that its two-year term loan and revolving credit facility agreement with MBH Group UK and CH Acquisition that expires on 29 April 2024, with an option to extend for a further year, was extended in December 2022 “to reflect a term loan commitment of £120m and revolving credit facility commitment of £100m”. During the year, these bank facilities were consolidated into one legal entity, MBH Group. The amount drawn down under the agreement at the balance sheet date was £190m (2022: £168m). Ivy Collection features in the Propel Turnover & Profits Blue Book. Its turnover of £302,927,000 for the year ending 1 January 2023 is the 30th highest in the database. Its pre-tax profit of £29,046,000 in the 21st 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 £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The single subscription rate is £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Email jo.charity@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription.

 

Dalata acquires site for Edinburgh hotel and completes deal for entering Netherlands market: Irish hotel operator Dalata has acquired the site for a new hotel in Edinburgh and completed a deal for entering the market in the Netherlands. It has acquired a development site at 28 St. Andrew’s Square in Edinburgh and completed the acquisition of the leasehold interest in Hard Rock Hotel Amsterdam American. The Edinburgh development site was acquired for a total consideration of £12.5m from Aviva Life & Pensions UK and was paid from Dalata’s existing cash and banking facilities. The building is currently vacant and approved for office use, with planning permission granted for an extension to both the rooftop and rear of the property. The group plans to submit a revised planning application in the first quarter of next year, enabling the construction of a new four-star Clayton Hotel, which is expected to be completed by mid-2026. Subject to a successful revised planning application, the hotel will incorporate 153 bedrooms, a bar, restaurant, dry gym and two large meeting rooms. The overall investment in the project, including the site purchase, will be circa £48m, creating circa 60 new jobs when the hotel is operational. The new hotel will be one of Dalata’s first to be designed to operate with zero on-site carbon emissions. Dalata has also completed the acquisition of a leasehold interest in Hard Rock Hotel Amsterdam American. Pursuant to the transaction, Dalata has acquired the entire issued share capital of American Hotel Exploitatie BV, which holds the operating leasehold, for a total consideration of €29.5m from Zien Group, financed from Dalata’s existing cash and banking facilities. The four-star hotel, which is owned by Deka Immobilien, consists of 173 bedrooms, ground floor lobby, café and bar. The hotel is being rebranded to Clayton Hotel Amsterdam American and Dalata will invest approximately €4.5m to enhance the property over the coming years. The hotel, with an expectation of stabilised annual earnings of circa €5m, will be Dalata’s first hotel in Amsterdam and second hotel in continental Europe. Dermot Crowley, chief executive at Dalata, said: “Today is an important day for the Dalata team as we announce two significant developments for the group. Edinburgh has long been a target city for us to locate our brands and we are delighted to have secured such a prestigious building in the centre of the city. This will be our third hotel in Scotland. We are also delighted to have secured our first Clayton hotel in Amsterdam. The American Hotel has a renowned reputation in the city, and we will continue to protect and enhance that with our Clayton brand. In the year to date, we have announced four new opportunities in three of the strongest city hotel markets in Europe. We will continue to seek out further opportunities in our target markets.”

More train strikes misery today: Train drivers at 16 companies are on strike again in a long-running dispute about pay and conditions. Aslef members are walking out today (Wednesday, 4 October), while an overtime ban for will run to Friday, 6 October. Many of the affected operators will run no services at all on strike days. Workers at 16 train companies are taking part in the Aslef industrial action. These are: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, c2c, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Greater Anglia, GTR Great Northern Thameslink, Great Western Railway, Island Line, LNER, Northern Trains, Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, South Western Railway, TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains.

 

Cornish hotel operator reports turnover exceeds pre-covid levels despite ‘significant’ challenges: Red Hotels – which runs the Bedruthan Hotel and Spa and the Scarlet Hotel overlooking Mawgan Porth beach in Cornwall – has reported turnover increased to £13,896,156 for the year ending 1 January 2023 compared with £11,504,984 the year before despite “significant” challenges. Revenue also exceeded the £12,020,967 reported for the year ending 29 December 2019 – the last full year before the covid pandemic. Ebitda was down to £1,954,455 from £2,877,846 the previous year due to increased costs and reduced government support (2019: £1,701,699). Pre-tax profit fell to £1,244,990 from £2,405,929 the year before (2019: profit of £2,547,731). Occupancy averaged 77% (2022: 83%) and the average daily rate was £209.14 (2022: £246.34). In their report accompanying the accounts, the directors stated: “After two years of trading dominated by covid-19, it had been hoped that 2022 would return something resembling normality but unfortunately the war in Ukraine, soaring inflation particularly for food and energy costs and the increasing cost-of-living crisis affecting the UK economy meant that significant issues remained. This was further exacerbated by the fact that a number of potential customers decided to take advantage of the reopening of overseas travel. Administrative expenses increased by 25% with the main increases being in energy costs, repairs and maintenance and increased depreciation charges, the latter two as a result of the ongoing investment into both hotels.” The business received government grants of £12,000 (2022: £883,264). A dividend of £110,000 was paid (2022: nil).

 

Denbies reports ‘strong’ order book as business builds back from pandemic: Surrey-based wine estate Denbies has reported it has a “strong” order book and an increasing number of functions and events taking place as it builds back from the pandemic. The business said its Denbies Vineyard hotel continues to perform well and will benefit from a new bioclimatic alfresco dining area opening towards the end of 2023. It comes as the business reported turnover increased to £7,496,599 for the year ending 31 December 2022 compared with £7,232,991 the year before. Pre-tax profit was down to £1,177,381 from £1,524,293 the previous year. In their report accompanying the accounts, the directors stated: “The business will continue to maximise organic growth in all departments, and review all options for future opportunities and investment to expand current operations.” The business received government grants of £64,449 (2021: £441,836). No dividend was paid (2021: nil).