Individual Restaurants feasts on festive success as sales and covers both grew

Manchester-based Individual Restaurants – which includes the Piccolino, Riva Blu and Restaurant Bar & Grill brands – enjoyed its best Christmas trading period, outperforming the market during the peak trading period, it said. 

The group, which owns and operates a portfolio of 32 restaurants nationwide, reported record Christmas sales and impressive covers growth.

Total sales grew by 14% in the four weeks of December, with its biggest ever trading day on December 13. Like for like sales increased by eight per cebnt in December, while covers increased by four per cent year on year.

Under the direction of CEO, Andrew Garton, who joined the business in January 2023, Individual Restaurants has gone from strength to strength, reporting a £74m turnover in March 2024, the group’s most successful year to date.

The landmark year has been fuelled by strategic investments across its portfolio and impressive new openings, driven by the evolution of the Piccolino brand which expanded into the home counties, in Marlow and Henley-on-Thames, with a further opening in the South of England in Chichester in 2024.

Individual Restaurants also invested £4m in renovations across its portfolio in the past 12 months, investing in its Riva Blu brand in the North of England, with further refurbishments to Piccolino restaurants in Sheffield, Virginia Water, Ilkley, Manchester and Birmingham.

The group credits the commitment to strengthening its core estate as a contributing factor to record sales. The success was reflected nationwide with 70% of sites achieving record-breaking trading days in December.

The impressive trading period follows a number of strategic hires and promotions made by Garton to bolster the group’s executive board as it prepares to open new brand propositions, grow its portfolio, identify acquisition and franchise opportunities and enter new markets globally.

This included the appointment of Neve Rabbou as Group Sales and Marketing Director.

Andrew Garton said: “It has been a milestone Christmas for Individual Restaurants with record-breaking sales and impressive covers growth and we’re proud to have outperformed the market in terms of spend and transactions.

“Investing in the evolution of our flagship brand, Piccolino, has been a key driving force behind the sales success and will continue to be a catalyst for growth as we seek to develop our portfolio and enter new markets in 2025.”

He added: “Guest experience is at the heart of what we do. Our data-led approach has allowed us to understand our guests better than ever, developing propositions fit for every brand, and the success of our new experience-led loyalty programme, Club IR, is testament to this.

“The outcome of the Autumn Budget will be very challenging for the hospitality sector in 2025, however, we remain resilient in the face of cost pressures and committed to long term investment, setting our sights on new openings and global expansion opportunities.”

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