Exclusive – Big Mamma Group to open four new UK sites this year as turnover nears record £45m: Big Mamma Group, which is backed by McWin, has said it plans to open four new UK sites in 2025 as it reported turnover increased to a record £44,276,559 for the year ending 31 December 2024 compared with £40,894,782 the previous year. The company, which operates five sites in London and one in Birmingham, saw pre-tax profit fall to £2,042,306 from £3,672,773 the year before. Gross profit margin increased to 74% from 72.0% the previous year. The group received £25,448 in insurance claims (2023: nil) and £601 in management fees (2023: £2,166). The company incurred pre-trading expenses of £490,627 (2023: £1,002,897). In their report accompanying the accounts, the directors stated: “At the end of the year, the company had five restaurants in London – Gloria, Circolo Popolare, Ave Mario, Jacuzzi and Carlotta and the latest addition in Birmingham – La Bellezza, which opened in November 2024. These establishments continue to have resounding results translated by exciting media coverage and a real public success. Gloria, Circolo Popolare, Ave Mario, Jacuzzi and Carlotta all performed strongly in excess of expectations driven by consistently high customer feedback scores and strong brand awareness. Each of these factors has enabled the group to maintain its high demand for the product with the restaurants continually fully booked one month in advance throughout 2024. Continuing the company's expansion plans to grow the business in the UK, further leases have been signed to open four new locations in 2025.” The new sites include a second UK site under its Circolo Popolare concept, in Manchester. The company will open the new Italian restaurant and bar in Gary Neville’s Relentless Developments’ St Michael’s scheme in the city’s Jackson Row. Big Mamma Group is also set to open its sixth and seventh sites in London. The company has submitted plans to turn part of the ground floor of the former Scottish Provident building at 1-6 Lombard Street in the City into a new restaurant. Meanwhile, the group has confirmed its upcoming site in Canary Wharf will be called Barbarella and is going to be a retro-inspired self-styled “wild and jungle-themed city pad”. The restaurant will open in June on the former All Bar One site in the YY building in the South Colonnade. In October 2023, McWin bought a majority stake in Big Mamma Group in a deal valued at €270m. The company employs around 500 staff in its UK sites. Big Mamma Group features in Propel’s highly anticipated International Brands report, featuring the 100 leading international brands in UK hospitality, and has now launched. This in-depth report explores company histories, leadership structures, site numbers and turnover figures – an essential tool for industry professionals navigating the UK hospitality market. The top 100 includes expanding brands from markets such as the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and Asia. The guide will be sent out as two files – an introductory PDF featuring deep dives into international brands from Propel’s writers, and a fully searchable Excel sheet for easy access to key data. The analysis includes Matteo Frigeri, founder of Seeds Consulting, on the challenges of recruiting the right UK franchisee, Michael Ingemann, director of Think Hospitality, on why European brands chose the UK for expansion, and Meaningful Vision founder Maria Vanifatova examining the UK market for quick service restaurant operators. The International Brands report is available for £595 plus VAT, with existing Premium Club members able to purchase at a discounted rate of £395 plus VAT. Premium Club members will receive it free on Friday, 9 May at 9am. Order your copy today by emailing: kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com.

Exclusive – Tim Hortons UK & Ireland full-year turnover tops £105m as losses widen, current focus is on ‘foundations for future growth’: The UK company behind Canadian quick service restaurant brand Tim Hortons saw turnover top the £105m mark in the year to 31 December 2023, and said it was currently focused on the “foundations for future growth”. Signing off the accounts last week, the circa 70-strong company said: “The focus for the year ahead will be on the customer proposition. The directors aim to focus on the foundations for future growth with a view to driving brand awareness, investing in customer relationship management technologies and strengthening and innovating the menu proposition. The directors aim to turnaround underperforming stores and scrutinise the cost base with a view to driving profitability.” Revenue in the year to 31 December 2023 increased 19.8% to £105,362,598, up from a restated £87,947,750 the previous year. The company said that key drivers of this increase were the full year impact of its 2022 new site openings as well as the part year impact of 2023 openings. Adjusted Ebitda was a loss of £3.87m (2022: loss of £4.69m), which the company said was impacted by increased utility costs and the high number of site openings in the year, as “these carry significant pre-opening costs incurred before the sites begin to trade”. Pre-tax losses grew to £33,719,756 from £12,759,839 the year before. The company stated: “The directors note that the comparison period for part of our like-for-like sales (first quarter of 2022) had been inflated due to government measures reducing VAT for the hospitality industry meaning the company retained a higher portion of its sale as compared with 2023. Gross profit per the financial statements is inclusive of an onerous lease provision of £3.28m. The gross profit margin after adding back any provision declined year-on-year from 13.27% in 2022 to 10.62% in 2023 as inflationary pressures, notably on food ingredient prices, began to take hold. Employee costs were impacted as the national living wage increased by nearly 9.7% in April. For the financial year ended 31 December 2023, the company impaired tangible and intangible fixed assets attached to loss-making stores as well as an onerous lease provision to provide for known liabilities of loss-making stores. In addition a historic VAT claim received has also been adjusted for the Ebitda calculation. The combined one-off impact to the statement of comprehensive income has increased losses in the year by £19.59m. The hospitality sector has faced significant challenges in recent years. Given this backdrop, it is pleasing to note the company was able to continue its store expansion programme albeit at a slower rate than in previous years and drive a significant year on year revenue increase. A degree of optimism is returning to the sector as price increases begin to slow in both foodservice and supermarkets and as delivery and takeaway sales return to growth for many leading operators after months of decline.” With a focus on drive-thru locations, the business opened a further seven sites during 2023. Accounting for the closure of one site (a dark kitchen) this grew the total estate to 78 sites as at 31 December 2023. Additional capital contributions from existing investors of £3m were received in the period. The accumulated balance of capital contributions received totalled £28m at the balance sheet date.