Revolution Bars toasts seventh year of Christmas success

Revolution Bars raised a glass to the seventh year in a row of record Christmas trading, as bosses revealed each of its 74 bars banked £65,000 a week on average.

The company said like-for-like sales over the four weeks leading up to New Year’s Day were up 4% compared with the same period last year.

And in the six months to December 28 sales were up 3.4% – or 1.2% on a like-for-like basis – to £81.2 million.

Bosses at the chain, which trades as Revolution Bars and Revolucion de Cuba, are keen to focus on upgrading their current estate – rather than open new sites – and have been closing down under-performing bars.

During the final six months of 2019 three were shut in Swansea, Wood Street in Liverpool and a branch in Macclesfield. A further five venues were opened but the focus is on improvements, the company said.

Chief executive Rob Pitcher said the trading was “further evidence that our key initiatives are driving both operational and financial improvement”.

He added: “Considerable strides have been made in rebuilding customer loyalty and driving sales and profit from the existing estate, creating a stronger business with significant cash generation.

“Whilst external cost pressures persist, we will continue to manage cautiously, using excess cash to reduce indebtedness… before we will consider further expansion opportunities.”