Exclusive – Caprice Holdings sees revenue rise to almost £100m but falls to loss: Caprice Holdings, the Richard Caring-backed, high-end restaurant business that operates ten sites across the UK, has reported revenue increased to a record £97,066,000 for the year ending 31 December 2023 compared with £74,364,000. The operator of Scott’s and Sexy Fish saw adjusted Ebitda fall to £10,057,000 from £12,253,000 the year before as administrative overheads increased by almost £25m to £81,125,000. The group posted a pre-tax loss of £5,909,000 compared with a profit of £1,152,000 the previous year. Revenue for the period was helped by the opening of Sexy Fish in Manchester. In their report accompanying the accounts, the directors stated: “While inflationary pressures reduced consumer confidence in contrast to the bounce-back highs of the prior post-pandemic period, the company’s proposition proved compelling for our customers, which contributed to another impressive year. This is notable considering the cost headwinds faced in the first half of the year from energy prices and knock-on costs from the supply chain and interest rate hikes.” The company, which employs almost 1,100 staff, saw its wage bill edged up to 40% of sales, from 36% the year before, while gross margin was maintained at 77%. No dividend was paid (2022: nil). In December last year, the business made its debut in the UAE with the opening of Sexy Fish Dubai. Last week, the FT reported Caring was in advanced talks to sell a significant portion of his UK hospitality empire – which includes The Ivy restaurants and London private members’ club Annabel’s – to an entity controlled by the Abu Dhabi royal Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed al-Nahyan.
Next Who’s Who of UK Hospitality to be released today featuring 922 companies: The next Who’s Who of UK Hospitality will be released to Premium Club members today (Friday, 23 May), at midday. Another 21 companies have been added to the database, which now features 922 companies. This month’s edition will also include 58 updated entries and more than 246,000 words of content. The companies, listed in alphabetical order, will have their most recent results reported as well as broader information around Ebitda, plans and trading style available. The database merges Companies House information, interviews and other public information to provide an easy to reference and exhaustive guide to the sector. Premium Club subscribers also receive access to five other databases:
the Multi-Site Database, the New Openings Database, the Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database and
the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database. All Premium Club subscribers will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to Propel paid-for events including the Operational Excellence Conference in July and discounts on specialist sector reports. Operators that are Premium Club subscribers are also able to send up to four members of staff to each of our four Multi-Club Conferences for free. Premium Club subscribers receive their daily Propel Info newsletter 11 hours earlier than standard subscribers, at 7pm the evening before. They also receive videos of presentations at eight Propel conference events two weeks after they are held. This represents around 100 videos of industry insight over the course of the year. Premium Club subscribers will be sent a dedicated monthly newsletter that will highlight key updates in the sector and direct subscribers to all the vital content their membership offers. Premium Club subscribers also receive exclusive opinion columns every Friday at 5pm, which include the thoughts of Propel group editor Mark Wingett and a host of industry leaders from across the sector.
In this week’s Propel Premium, Wingett looks back at an interesting week for The Restaurant Group as it begins building out its strategies for both Wagamama and its pubs business Brunning & Price. A Premium Club subscription costs an annual sum of £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Premium Club for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or supplier.
Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.
Pub People hires Julie Centracchio as new chief financial officer: Midlands pub company Pub People has hired Julie Centracchio, previously of JD Wetherspoon, Peach Pub Company, WatchHouse and Boston Tea Party, as its new chief financial officer. Centracchio has more than two decades of experience in senior roles within the hospitality industry, and most recently spent periods as finance director at Temper and coffee brand WatchHouse. She stepped down as chief financial officer at Boston Tea Party at the end of 2022. She joined the all-day dining business in autumn 2019 after more than two years as finance director at Peach Pub Company. Her appointment comes at a time when Pub People is undertaking several major capex schemes including the Rutland Cottage in Ilkeston and Marr Lodge in Worksop. The Downing backed business, which is led by Andy Crawford, has nearly 50 predominantly freehold pubs operating under its managed partnership model. Mark Crowther, non-executive chairman of Pub People, said: “We are delighted to welcome Julie to this growing business. It’s an exciting period for Pub People Company with refurbishments ongoing and further acquisitions under consideration. This is all at a time of continued strong trading, for this well-established company.”
