Young’s FY lfls up 5.7%, makes “fast start” to new financial year: Young’s has this morning reported like-for-like revenue growth of 5.7% for the 52 weeks ended 31 March 2025, and said it had made a “fast start” to its new financial year, with like-for-like managed house revenue for the last nine weeks ahead of last year by 8%. It said that the great weather throughout April and May had ensured “our beautiful pub gardens and riverside locations have been packed full of customers”. It said: “This has been further supported by the Easter weekend falling in April this year, with total sales for the last nine weeks up 9.4% and up 8% on a like-for-like basis.” The company said that the strong like-for-like revenue growth in the year to 31 March 2025 reflected the “strength of Young’s strategy, supported by an excellent performance during EURO24 and the Christmas period, and despite challenging weather at the start of the year”. Total revenue for the period was up 24.9% to £485.8m, and adjusted Ebitda up 23.2% to £113.6m with managed house Ebitda for the period up 22.4% to £138.3m. Adjusted operating profit increased £14.1m to £71.4m, with “a sector leading margin of 14.7%”, which the business said was despite continued National Living Wage increases of almost 10%, utility costs and H1 head office dual running costs of £2.1m from its City Pub Group acquisition. The company has made a recommendation for a final dividend of 11.53p, resulting in a total dividend for the year of 23.06p, up 6.0%, reflecting its “strong profit performance and progressive dividend policy”. It said that it has completed the successful integration of City Pub Group into the Young’s estate, and that head office synergies were realised, and food and drink margin benefits achieved in line with the acquisition plan. Following the planned disposal of nine pubs, the sale of a non-trading pub and the simultaneous sale and surrender of a lease on a non-trading pub, The company finished the period with a total of 277 pubs (2024: 288), including 56 pubs with rooms, providing a total of 1,063 bedrooms. The company said that total room revenue for the year increased by 30% for the period to £30.8m. It said that this reflects the additional 228 rooms through the City Pub acquisition, but also continues the momentum of previous years following the launch of its Young’s Rooms strategy which “celebrates the enjoyment and unique experience of staying in a pub”. Total food sales for the year were up 5.0% on a like-for-like basis, 21.8% in total including City Pubs, and now forms 30.1% of total sales. Overall, drink sales were up 25.8%, in part reflecting the added volume of the City Pub Group, and 6.4% on a like-for-like basis. The company also announced that Nick Miller has decided to step down from the board after eight years, with John Dunsmore joining as non-executive director, both effective at its July AGM. Ian Dyson will succeed Miller as senior independent director and chair of the remuneration committee. Dunsmore brings over 40 years of relevant sector experience to Young’s. In 2009, he was appointed chief executive of C&C Group successfully, turning around the business over the next three years. He started his career and had several senior operational roles at Scottish & Newcastle, becoming chief executive in 2007. Simon Dodd, chief executive of Young’s, said: “I am delighted to announce another excellent set of results, reflecting the strength of Young’s strategy. During the year, customers flocked to our wonderful pubs to watch EURO24 and celebrate Christmas. Poor weather at the start of the year held back early trading, but unseasonable March sunshine delivered a welcome boost to sales. We have successfully completed the integration of the City Pub Group, realising all the promised synergies and we are well advanced in achieving further operational benefits. A tough macroeconomic environment for the industry seems to have been par for the course since I became chief executive and government changes coming into effect in April make life no easier. However, we are in excellent shape, with our differentiated approach and premium business model positioning us well in difficult conditions. Young’s continues to be a leader for like-for-like sales in our sector and everything within our control is going to plan. It’s been a fast start to the new financial year, with the great weather throughout April and May meaning our beautiful pub gardens and riverside locations have been packed full of customers. Whilst we remain mindful of the headwinds facing consumers and the wider issues that our industry will encounter, we are confident our premium, well-invested, predominantly freehold pub estate will continue to deliver profitable growth.”
Premium Club subscribers to receive new searchable and segmented New Openings Database tomorrow: The next Propel New Openings Database will be sent to Premium Club subscribers tomorrow (Friday, 6 June), at noon. The database will show the details of 181 site openings, including which company has opened a site or its plans to open one in the future. The database will have details on what type of site it is and its location, and there will also be a website link to the businesses. The database is published on a monthly basis and Premium Club subscribers will also receive a 11,152-word report on the 181 new additions to the database. It is segmented into seven categories – cafe bakery, casual dining, experiential leisure, fine dining, hotels, pubs and bars, and quick service restaurants – making it even easier for users to search. The database includes new openings in the experiential leisure sector such as
Superbowl UK, opening in Wolverhampton, Cornwall’s largest padel club,
SeaSpace Padel Club, which has been opened by
Watergate Hotel Group at its Seascape aparthotel in Newquay, and
King Pins, the bowling concept from Professionals at Play, opening in Glasgow. Premium Club subscribers also receive access to five other databases: the
Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the
Multi-Site Database, the
UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database, the
UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database and the
Who’s Who of UK Hospitality. 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. 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.
Incipio Group reveals new restaurants for Olympia development: Incipio Group, operator of venues including Pergola on the Wharf, The Libertine and The Prince, is to open four new brands as part of a £1.3bn regeneration project at London’s Kensington Olympia. The concepts, called Arbour, Wolves of Tokyo, Lillie’s, and Juno, will open in October, occupying 40,000 square feet of space across the events venue, which opened in 1886. It’s understood the four projects have cost Incipio £14m. The 14-acre redevelopment is being funded by a consortium of financial firms and investment companies which includes Deutsche Bank and Yoo Capital. Arbour, designed to serve theatregoers and office workers based there, is to be a 15,000 square foot bar with a capacity of 1,100. There’ll be a rooftop bar and food such as fried chicken and smashed burgers. Wolves of Tokyo will be a “high energy” Japanese restaurant and cocktail bar with space for 800 guests and will also have a rooftop space. Based entirely on the roof, Lillie’s is inspired by “the elegance of English gardens” and Kensington’s old vineyards and will serve British small plates, English sparkling wines and Champagne. Finally, Juno is set to be the UK’s largest Italian restaurant, an all-day concept at an “accessible price point”. The team behind the project said Olympia is expected to attract as many as ten million people every year. “These venues represent our most ambitious and diverse project to date,” said Ed Devenport, chief executive of Incipio. “We’ve crafted four distinct concepts that celebrate the best of global food culture while offering something truly special for London. Olympia gives us the perfect platform to deliver unforgettable experiences at scale.” Lloyd Lee, from Yoo Capital, said: “When we first began building the vision for Olympia, we made a commitment to showcase young energetic British companies like Incipio, who represent a bold new generation of visionary British culinary entrepreneurs, creating original new concepts, menus and experiences for Londoners and visitors from further afield.” Opening in phases from late October 2025 through to June 2026, Incipio’s concepts will anchor Olympia’s transformation into “London’s premier cultural and entertainment district”, featuring a new 4,000-capacity music venue, the largest new theatre in London in 50 years, historical event spaces, hotels and cutting-edge workspaces.
