The Martin Hayes-led company has posted its record turnover ahead of opening its seventh pub, St Mary Axe, on Mitre Lane this autumn following refurbishment.
On the financial performance, Hayes said: “We’re really pleased with the latest numbers, not least because whilst craft beer sales are high, so are the number of people trying to retail craft beer. I’m not sure the demand from consumers for craft beer is outstripping the rate at which retailers are adding it to their offer, particularly some of the big operators who are, with respect, ticking boxes with a pretty average craft beer offer so they can adorn A Boards with ‘We sell Craft Beer here’.
“What sets us aside is our unwavering dedication to stocking the world’s finest craft beer, which includes many breweries from the UK. We’re not just ticking the boxes, craft beer is who we are, not what we want to be.”
When the newest site was secured, Hayes told M&C the group was gearing up to open its first pub outside the south east, in Bristol.
Hayes said a site was “ours if we want it”, on a new development in Bristol.
He told M&C: “There is a great craft beer scene in Bristol but I am confident we could go in there and have the best offer. Bristol is just far enough that it would be manageable under our current structure.
“The plan is still to eventually get sites in places like Birmingham, Manchester, Oxford and Cambridge and possibly Glasgow and Edinburgh.”