Jonathan Lawson (pictured), CEO of Liberation Group said: “Our teams should be incredibly proud of the way they dealt with the challenges posed last year and for the strong results they have been able to deliver.
“Last year we once again demonstrated the quality and passion of our people, which combined brilliantly with the inherent strengths of our business and its combination of pubs, brewing and wholesale drinks across the Southwest of England and the Channel Islands. Managed UK pubs delivering +18% LFL between May 2021 and January 2022 (compared to 2019) is a sector leading performance and has reinforced our focus on premium food led pubs, with a fast-growing accommodation business which is now 13% of our UK Managed Revenue.
“Our Butcombe Brewing volumes were only slightly down last year on 2019, which is a remarkable performance and demonstrated the strengths of our brewing brands, the loyalty of our customers and the mixed channels of distribution across the on and off trade, added to by our incredibly successful packaging plant in Bridgwater.
“In the Channel Islands, we likewise overcame the challenges of lockdowns and restrictions to deliver a robust and profitable performance and implemented some exciting changes that will deliver growth on drinks distribution over the coming years. We commenced our Capital Investment Programme at the very start of January 2021 and worked right into December, delivering targeted investments to our managed, tenanted, and brewing businesses.
“We owe a massive thanks to our teams who have been incredible throughout the last few years and have been led by a very talented team of leaders who understand the market and their customers incredibly well.
“The new financial year has started strongly with record sales and profitability being delivered in the first four months of the year and it was wonderful for the Managed Pub business to achieve a hat trick at this year’s Publican Awards in March. Trade has been particularly strong in the UK and Guernsey and a clear recovery is visible in Jersey thanks to the return of tourism and an increase in footfall from the financial district in St Helier, resulting in Channel Island Managed Pubs delivering broadly flat LFL’s vs 2019.
“Our Liberation Brewery in Jersey complements our larger volume Butcombe Brewery and deservedly picked up a World Champion award for Liberation IPA at this year’s prestigious International Brewing Awards. They are also now producing a range of small batch cask ales that is perfectly in tune with the market. Looking forward we are confident that this will be a record year for our combined OBV volumes from our two breweries, comfortably exceeding 30,000 barrels.
“Our Tenanted partners are a vital part of our business and we have supported them on an individual basis by market to ensure that they can look forward positively to the years ahead working closely with our brewing and brands business. Strong estate management over the last few years, including divestment, investment and acquisitions mean that the quality of our pub estate has never been higher and we are seeing this coming through in the EBITDA per pub in both managed and tenanted estate.
“We, like others, can see the headwinds picking up and the concern that always goes with declining consumer confidence and pressure on disposable income. Our people plan is of crucial importance to drive recruitment and retention with a strong focus on internal development. So, looking forward we are in good shape, with robust plans and quality teams to execute our strategy and are maintaining our strong investment plans for the year ahead to ensure that we continue to deliver the best experience possible for our customers.
“The Platinum Jubilee Weekend delivered a fantastic week of sales across our Group and in all markets with a number of our pubs delivering record weekly sales. We were delighted that so many customers chose to celebrate this unique event with us.”
