ichard Caring’s restaurant chain Bill’s has staged a strong recovery after racking up huge losses during the pandemic and closing dozens of sites.
The company, which grew from a single greengrocer in Lewes, reported record first-half sales of £45.3 million from its still trading locations, up 4.5% on a like-for-like basis.
Underlying earnings of £2.45 million compared with a £0.1 million loss last year, and trading is said to be “ahead of expectations”.
The company made total losses of £25 million in 2020 and 2021. Managing director Tom James said: “Despite the backdrop of the challenging trading environment, I am pleased with our performance at the half year with all sites generating higher EBITDA than last year.
“The team have been working incredibly hard repositioning the brand towards the prominent trends we are seeing including Gen Z, families and breakfast and brunch daytime trade and we have welcomed a staggering 2.67 million people this year so far.
“We have overhauled the website so guests can experience a smooth booking journey, resulting in website traffic and bookings up 22% on last year and the business is now on a firm footing for future growth and focused expansion.”
Richard Caring said: “The numbers speak for themselves that Bill’s is back on track.
It comes as the extent of the pressure faced by food and drink makers from soaring costs was laid bare today, with industry figures showing that the number of companies in financial distress more than doubled. In the year to the end of June, the number of firms entering insolvency in the sector rose 108%, hitting 287.
Higher energy costs lifted the price of ingredients as well as taking a direct toll on the sector, leaving profit margins badly exposed. It made it more difficult for companies to service debts at a time of rising interest rates. It was worse for food manufacturers. They accounted for 200 of the insolvencies, up from 99 in the previous year.
The 87 insolvent drinks firms compared with 39 a year ago. The numbers were revealed by Inverto, a management consultant. Mohamad Kaivan, its managing director, said the trend came about “almost exclusively by their suppliers demanding price rises,” adding: “Some of those price rises have been justified but a lot of those price rises haven’t.”
He advised firms to renegotiate contracts now inflation is easing.