Sat 20th Jul 2024 - JW Lees reports record year as pre-tax profit more than doubles JW Lees reports record year as pre-tax profit more than doubles, “feels like we’re back to some form of business as usual”: Manchester brewer and retailer JW Lees has reported a record year with revenues up 9% to £96.8m for the 12 months to 31 March 2024, and pre-tax profit up 104% to £7.1m. The company, which operates 47 managed pubs, inns and hotels, and 87 tenanted and leased pubs, said that pre-tax profit in the previous year was down by 56% from £7.9m to £3.5m owing to a number of reasons including the cost of energy, significantly reduced government support and increased levels of investment in the business. The group bought one new pub during the year, The Pointing Dog in Cheadle, in June 2023 from Marston’s as well as carrying out capex of £5.9m across 16 existing sites including the development of what was Dutton’s in Albert Square Manchester, which was re-imagined and re-opened in February 2024 as JW Lees Founder’s Hall, a home for the company to showcase its draught beers and everything which is “best about JW Lees”. The group also made a significant investment at the Rope and Anchor Woolston, which is the first JW Lees Retail Agreement pub and which has also opened “strongly”. The group sold one property in the year, The Junction Garage in Middleton, and a small parcel of land at the Old Cock Inn, Middleton, which together generated a profit of £724,000. The company said that the new Retail Agreement, whereby a self-employed retail operator runs the pub with direct responsibility for the operation of the site, including all of the wages in return for a % of the sales, was now being extended into two more trial sites and the group will review this operating format in the next year. With the JW Lees 200th anniversary (in 2028) coming into sight, the company said it was its aim that all of its pubs will have been refurbished within the previous three years. The company said: “JW Lees continues to innovate in its brewery and during the year launched a new 3.4% Light Lager which has gone down well with our customers, as well as brewing 52 new beers (one for every week of the year) in its small batch Boilerhouse Brewery which led to an uplift of +175% in sales of its Boilerhouse beers albeit from a low base, but the principle remains to trial brew experimental brews in The Boilerhouse and then, if successful, roll them out and brew them in the main Greengate Brewery, like Boilerhouse Craft Pale Ale which was in 87% growth in the year and JW Lees Stout which was in 92% growth, too. In March 2024 Original Lager was recognised with a silver medal by the International Brewing Awards and JW Lees branded draught lager sales were in 17% volume growth in the year. Overall, volumes of JW Lees core draught beer sales were in 2.3% growth in the year.” The company also this year welcomed Gary Stafford to JW Lees as head of pub partners as well as making internal promotions with Lee Reeves becoming head of people, Sharma Cook becoming head of marketing and Emma Butterworth becoming head of customer services. In April last year, the company welcomed Louis Lees-Jones, as the first of the seventh generation of our founder John Lees to join the business. He joined JW Lees as openings manager after an extensive induction including spending time not just in all of the different departments of JW Lees but also visiting 20 of the UK’s independent family brewers. During its current financial year, JW Lees said it will continue to grow its estate predominantly by the development of its existing estate and, where opportunities arise, the acquisition of new freehold pubs, inns and hotels in North West England and North Wales. William Lees-Jones, managing director of JW Lees: “It finally feels like we’re back to some form of business as usual after a roller-coaster four years with lockdowns, huge volatility in energy contracts and the cost-of-living crisis. As the song goes, ‘Things can only get better’ and we feel that JW Lees is well placed to grow our business in all three trading divisions, Managed Houses, Pub Partners and Sales. Pre-tax profit was only down £324,000 on 2019 pre-lockdown levels and so we are back with a spring in our step and we trust that the new government recognises the importance of the hospitality sector and that there will finally be a root and branch review of business rates and fairer rates of tax on both alcohol duty and VAT, which are among the highest in the world. We support Family Business UK in campaigning that a quarter of the British public feel that the government should do more to raise awareness and promote the family business model within policymaking, with nearly a third (28%) of those polled saying more support should be given to family businesses. This includes cutting business rates (27%), introducing new policies that help owners pass their business to the next generation and also appointing a family business minister in government. While we remain keen to acquire more pubs, inns and hotels, there have been limited opportunities for us to acquire the right sites at the right price and so we are about to embark on a major investment programme in our brewery, as we approach our 200-year anniversary in 2028 as well as adding a number of new bedroom blocks to our existing pub estate. We aim for JW Lees to deliver fantastic hospitality with brewing at its heart with Managed Houses, Pub Partners and Free Trade all working together to continue to build the JW Lees brand in the North West. We are proud that our overall guest satisfaction score has been maintained at 9.1/10 and we remain committed to delivering an exceptional guest experience at all times.” JW Lees features in the Propel Turnover & Profits Blue Book. Its turnover of £88m is the 106th 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 kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription.