Revolution Bars Group suffers £3.6m loss

The group, which operates the brands Revolution and Revolución de Cuba, saw its like-for-like sales fall 0.6% for the year up to 30 June.

Despite total sales experiencing an 8.7% increase to £141.9m, the bar group made an operating loss of 3.6m. The company made a £5.1m profit last year.

Revolution lost a hefty £11.1m during takeover and merger approaches from Stonegate Pub Company and the Deltic Group during the first half of the year. The proposal by Deltic was rejected and Stonegate did not achieve enough votes from Revolution shareholders for the acquisition to go ahead.

Football factor

A lack of TVs and outside space contributed to a downturn in sales in the warm summer period when pubs benefited from England performing well in the FIFA World Cup.

Snowy conditions brought by the Beast from the East meant sales decreased by some £500,000 earlier in the year.

Turnover among the senior leadership team​, including the chief executive and chief operating officer positions, contributed to costs.

'Fundamentally good'

Chief executive officer Rob Pitcher said: “This is a fundamentally good business, which has seen significant disruption over the past year and factors outside of its control.

“The group’s strategy is sound and with a stable management team and better execution the company can rapidly return to growth.

He continued: “The performance of our new sites is encouraging, in line with our expectations and set to deliver good returns underpinning our strategic view of the business.

“Our confidence in the potential of the group is undiminished.”