South West craft brewer and pub chain Butcombe has shrugged off the gloom in the hospitality sector with another record-breaking year.
The group, based at Wrington, near Bristol, grew its earnings by 9.1% to £15m in the 53 weeks to 31 January.
Earnings from its 70-strong managed pub estate shot up by 23%, with like-for-life sales up 8%, while its 112-strong Boutique Inns division achieved a 12.5% increase in like-for-life sales.
Jonathan Lawson, CEO of Butcombe Group, said the results “graphically illustrated” a strong year with all areas of the business contributing.
“The growth was all-the-more impressive in that it followed a prior year of significant growth and momentum for the business,” he added.
“We continue to build a leading, premium pubs and boutique inns business, allied to a first-class beer, brands and drinks operation, all underpinned by operational excellence, innovation and strategic investment, with strong momentum as we head into our new financial year.”
During the period, the group unveiled the latest site under its premium Butcombe Boutique Inns brand – The Welldiggers Arms in Petworth, West Sussex.
Since the year end, it has also re-opened The Brown Cow in Fulham, one of its biggest ever pub investments in London, followed by The Mayflower in Lymington, in the New Forest, and investment is currently going into The Dundas Arms in Kintbury, near Newbury, and The Methuen Arms in Corsham.
The group said it was continuing to drive its performance through innovation, including focusing heavily on “under-exploited dayparts”, notably breakfast, with morning food sales up 25.9% on a like-for-like basis, while a focus on loyalty meant 25.3% of sales in its managed pubs were linked to its customer loyalty programme.
It added: “Over the past year, we have evolved it into a data-led growth platform, developing seven customer personas to enable more personalised offers, communications and experiences.
“Looking ahead, we will build on this momentum with further developments, including AI-driven hyper-personalisation, to deliver a more seamless consumer journey.”
Recent trading had remained strong, the group said, with a like-for-like sales lift of 10% across the four-day Easter weekend in its managed pubs, while Mother’s Day was one of its highest trading days of the year.
Sales during during May half-term last week were were up by 15.5%, on top of the 8.2% increase during the same week last year, resulting in its highest ever sales week outside of the Christmas period.
The group, which is backed by Caledonia Private Capital, was launched as a microbrewery in 1978 by ex-Courage Western director Simon Whitmore.
At the time of the acquisition by Channel Islands-based Liberation Group 11 years ago had it just 19 pubs and its beer range did not extend much further than its Original bitter – which, as its name suggests, was the first beer brewed by Mr Whitmore in converted farm buildings on his land near the village of Butcombe.
Today the group has 118 pubs and inns stretching from Mayfair to St. Aubin, Jersey, and employs more than 1,800 people.
Its state-of-the-art brewery in Wrington and multi-million-pound distribution and bottling plant in Bridgwater supply a range of award-winning beers that includes Tall Tales Pale Ale, Goram IPA Zero and Butcombe Original, which is now the top cask ale brand in the South West and in the top 10 nationally.
In April the group signed a refinancing deal with NatWest to support further investment in pubs and brewing operations.
