Exclusive – The Alchemist reports record year, festive trading ahead 7.2%, set for Middle East debut: Bar and restaurant brand The Alchemist has reported year-on-year sales growth of 7.2% over the five-week festive period following a record year and said it expects to open its first site in the Middle East later this year. For the year to 31 March 2024, the Palatine-backed, Simon Potts-led business, which operates 23 sites in the UK along with a Berlin venue, saw revenue reach £60,319,000 (2023: £59,430,000), with a pre-tax loss of £1,099,000 (2023: pre-tax profit of £2,312,000). Potts told Propel: “The accounts reflect an interesting year, and in addition to the first wave of heavy cost loading across the sector, we also took the forward decision to open the Berlin site midway through the period – meaning a lot of associated one-off set up costs and ongoing support costs added into our operating numbers for the year. Happily, the venue has been on a growth journey and is now well established in the city, profitable and with very high customer sentiment. We’re really pleased. Our view has long been that longer term growth for our business will happen overseas, so this was an important project to get right. We’re now in negotiations on a second location in the city and hope to open later this year. The German operation has been established under an owned/operated model. Over the last 12 months, we’ve been looking at ways of activating The Alchemist further afield; utilising the well-established brand credentials we’ve developed here in the UK to work with a franchise partner and deliver our theatrical cocktails on a new continent. We’re now in the final legal stages of that process and expect to open a first venue in Dubai in 2025.” Potts said that the group’s UK business remains “healthy, resilient and in growth”, and that record trading over the festive period has underscored that “brilliantly for us; at nearly £2m in the peak week and year-on-year sales growth of 7.2% across the five weeks”. He said: “We’ll be opening a new location at Monument in the City, on Eastcheap, on 31 January – a really exciting location for the brand, where we join an established and varied food and beverage line up with huge levels of both corporate and tourist footfall to draw upon. This venue is effectively replacing our Old Street site, which will close later this month before moving into the hands of a new operator, following a review of the estate last year. We continue to tread carefully, matching our ambitions for the business with sensible husbandry, as we strive to meet the cost challenges that the government continues to throw at the sector. But having spent time reimagining our approach – both to growth and to our operation, centrally and in site – we believe we are well set for an exciting 2025 and look forward to the year ahead.”

Propel’s Top 500 report – 125 hotel operators among leading companies: Propel’s report on UK hospitality’s leading 500 companies by turnover is released this Friday (10 January) and is searchable in seven main segments. Hotels lead the way with 125 companies (25.0%), followed by QSRs at 123 (24.6%), Pubs & Bars at 77 (15.4%), Experiential Leisure at 65 (13.0%), Casual Dining with 60 (12.0%), Cafe Bakery at 45 (9.0%), and Fine Dining at five (1.0%). With more than 90,000 words of analysis, the report delves into company histories, leadership structures, site numbers and turnover figures, offering an essential resource for industry professionals. The guide will be sent out as two files – an introductory PDF featuring deep dives into the top 25 companies and including 6,500 words of insight from Propel’s writers, and a fully searchable excel sheet where all the data can be easily accessed. The analysis includes Mark Wingett examining the mergers and acquisitions shaping the future of the Top 500, while Tim Street dissects the UK’s rapidly developing franchise market. As the experiential leisure sector becomes a cornerstone of modern hospitality, Phil Pemberton assesses how innovative experiences are attracting customers, while Katherine Doggrell examines the key developments in UK hotels. Data expert Mark Bentley, business development director at HDI, looks at emerging growth sectors, and Meaningful Vision founder Maria Vanifatova analyses the latest trends in the quick service restaurant market. The Propel 500 report will be available from 9am, Friday 10 January 2025, priced at £595 plus VAT, or £395 plus VAT for existing Premium Club members. Premium Club subscribers can access it for free on 28 February 2025. Pre-order your copy now by emailing: kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com.

Exclusive – New World Trading Co festive lfls up 5.5%, secures CVA approval, to open Bournemouth site: Graphite Capital-backed pub restaurant group The New World Trading Company (NWTC) has reported a 5.5% increase in like-for-like sales across the festive season and said it has secured approval for its company voluntary arrangement (CVA), as well as lining up a new opening in Bournemouth. Amber Wood, managing director of the circa 30-strong business, said: “Christmas and New Year have been very encouraging, both financially and operationally. We have been really pleased with sales in December, achieving record revenue and +5.5% like-for-like growth. We were delighted to have broken a number of site records across this time, including 11 sites setting a new weekly sales record. These results are a testament to our amazing teams, delivering thousands of hot kebabs and cold cocktails throughout this busy period.” Last October, Propel revealed that the business intended to restructure its business to focus on its large Botanist-branded sites. As part of the restructuring, NWTC launched a CVA, which saw the closure of three loss-making sites – The Florist in Liverpool, The Botanist in Knutsford and The Botanist in Alderley Edge. Wood said: “Our customers responded really well to the conversion of three former single-site brands to Botanist sites in 2024. In February this year, we will aim to replicate this success, converting the Furnace in Sheffield to a Botanist. We will also be opening a new Botanist in Bournemouth – on track to open in May 2025. With our renewed partnership as the home of TV’s ‘First Dates’ in our Bath location, and a brand refresh that will see us return to our roots, we are feeling very optimistic about the future.” The company said the CVA was approved by more than 95% of all responding creditors. As part of the CVA process, NWTC will close a further three non-profitable sites this month – The North Light in Chester, The Botanist in Sheffield’s Leopold Square (which has already closed) and The Botanist in Coventry. The new site in Bournemouth will be inside the former Bobby’s shopping centre in the town’s Commercial Road. It has also lined up an opening in Lichfield, Staffordshire. The venue will join the Everyman Cinema as an anchor tenant in the Three Spires shopping centre, as part of its redevelopment of the former Debenhams store. Last April, Propel reported that NWTC saw its financial year (FY23) end “ahead of expectations”, delivering sales of more than £73m. The company’s accounts for the year to 31 March 2023 showed revenue increased by 20% to £71,971,794, while Ebitda declined due to input price inflation before recovering in the current year. It posted a pre-tax loss of £4,863,104 (2022: £1,990,478). NWTC features in the Propel Turnover & Profits Blue Book, which is available exclusively to Premium Club members and features 978 companies. NWTC’s turnover of £71,971,794 for the year ending 31 March 2023 is the 140th highest in the database. 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.

McDonald’s UK CEO says 29 people fired over abuse: The chief executive of McDonald’s UK has said 29 people have been dismissed over harassment allegations over the past 12 months. Alistair Macrow told MPs that the alleged cases published by the BBC on Tuesday (7 January) were “abhorrent, unacceptable, and there is no place for them in McDonald’s”. It comes after workers at the company told the BBC they are still facing abuse and harassment a year after Macrow promised to clean up behaviour at the restaurants. McDonald’s has insisted it has undertaken “extensive work” over the past year to ensure it is keeping workers safe. Since the BBC’s original investigation into the company in July 2023, the news corporation said it had heard 160 allegations of abuse, while the UK equality watchdog has heard 300 reported incidents of harassment. It now plans to intervene again. Liam Byrne, chair of the Business and Trade Select Committee, opened the session with those figures, asking Mr Macrow if McDonald’s had “basically now become a predator’s paradise”. Macrow said he would like to be able to investigate each allegation to understand them and ensure they can take “appropriate action”. The measures McDonald’s has put in place mean it is able to offer a “secure, safe workplace where people are respected”, he said, adding he hears from his staff that the plan is “working”. Macrow said people were “speaking up”, adding that 75 allegations of harassment had been made, 47 had been upheld with disciplinary action, and 29 individuals had been dismissed in the last year. Macrow was also asked about the issue of zero-hours contracts, which 89% of McDonald’s workers across the UK are on. Some workers told the BBC the insecure hours lead to an imbalance of power, while others said zero-hours contracts worked well for them. Byrne asked if Macrow accepted that this kind of “abuse flourishes when there is an imbalance of power in the workplace”. Macrow said the type of allegations described “are not widespread” but added that they do need to be eradicated from the business. He said he did not want to “belittle” the allegations but said the majority of incidents referred to the period before a new action plan was implemented. He insisted that flexible contracts were “very popular” with young people and that they do get offered a choice to switch to minimum guaranteed hours. It comes as the Press Association reported that more than 700 people who were aged 19 or younger when working at McDonald’s have instructed law firm Leigh Day to take legal action on their behalf.