Castle Rock sees turnover rise in ‘particularly pleasing’ year

Castle Rock Brewery, the Nottingham-based pub group and brewing company has seen profits rise for its financial year ending March 2024.

Colin Wilde, managing director, said the figures are “particularly pleasing” with headline turnover for the year up by 9.5% to £10.5m, with gross profit growing in similar vein.

Wilde said the business has “developed and moved forward” this year, despite it “undoubtedly remaining a difficult economic environment”.

During the year Castle Rock added to its long-term bank debt to finance the transfer of a key site from leasehold into a freehold asset with the subsequent auditor revaluation “significantly” adding to shareholders funds in the balance sheet.

Although net profit for the year was below that reported in the previous, Wilde explained that while this was partly due to the increasing cost headwinds faced by every business in the sector, it was predominantly driven by creating some “prudent provisions” already reported as profit in the exceptional prior year, noting that March 2024 compared well to the running level seen before the pandemic.

Looking ahead, Wilde said: “In light of an upcoming Budget that could be challenging for our sector, Castle Rock’s year-to-date figures remain promising. The board is confident that the financial year ending March 2025 will be another successful one.”

Castle Rock operates Nottingham’s largest independent brewery and manages 17 pubs in the East Midlands and beyond.

The Canalhouse was recently purchased by Castle Rock Brewery by freehold at auction following the sale by Nottingham City Council. Other pubs include the Embankment on Trent Bridge and the Lincolnshire Poacher on Mansfield Road.

Castle Rock Brewery won its category, Hospitality and Leisure, at TheBusinessDesk.com East Midlands Business Masters Awards earlier this year.