Wells & Co. EBITDA up by £800,000

Profits at Wells & Co. are on the up, with the fifth-generation family business sharing its financial results for the year ending 1 October 2023.

The company's EBITDA for the period experienced a significant increase, rising by £800,000 from £8.7m in 2022 to £9.5m in 2023. 
 
Wells & Co., which is approaching it 150th anniversary, says the upturn was delivered through considered cost control and a focus on consolidating capital investments made the previous year, driving sales across the group to £62.3m, up £7m year-on-year. 

Sales across its 130 leased and tenanted pubs helped to increase total revenue by 6%, while its UK managed pubs saw a sales increase of over £3m across the estate, with revenue from accommodation increasing by 25%.

"I have been delighted to see this growth being delivered from these two critical divisions of the business," says CEO Peter Wells. "The improvement from our Pub Partners in particular shows their resilience and dynamism, with sales gradually returning to a semblance of normality during the post pandemic recovery.

"However, we are still acutely aware of the cost pressures that the whole industry continues to face and the constant challenge to convert sales into profit. In response to this, we are doing as much as possible to provide support and offset cost increases. Just a few ways we’ve done this include holding the cost of our own brewed beer range, introducing utility saving measures in cellars as well as implementing voltage optimisation equipment, where possible installing electric car charging points to encourage increased dwell time, and lastly providing more resources to help with sales building plans."

Across the Channel

In addition to the growth achieved in Wells & Co.’s UK pubs, the company’s French estate of 16 managed sites also witnessed a surge in sales, contributing £2.2m to the overall figures.

This was due to the success of France’s national team during the football World Cup at the beginning of the year and the rugby World Cup at the end.

Wells & Co added two more pubs to its French estate in December 2023, the House of Parliament and HMS Victory in Bordeaux. There is further site acquisition plans for summer 2024.

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