Gastro pubs sales boost Deckers’ bottom line
THE sale of two of its Cheshire gastro-pubs to North West brewer JW Lees for just over £1m helped restaurant operator Deckers Hospitality Group lift annual profits after a “challenging year”.
The family-owned company sold the Plough & Flail of Mobberley and the Dunham Massey-based Rope & Anchor to JW Lees in April. The two sites had sales of £2.5m.
Rochdale-based Deckers, owned by chairman Cliff Brierley, his son Max the MD and daughter Victoria, the finance director, was founded in 1989.
Sales in the year to April 2, including the two sold pubs, fell from £33.4m to £32.8m, while gross margins dipped from 24.13% to 23.25%. Profits, boosted by the £1m sales rose from £296,000 to £601,000.
After the disposals, the company now owns a drinks wholesale business, two hotels, the Royal Toby at Castleton, and the Pennine Manor in Huddersfield, and two restaurants,The Crimble in Rochdale and the Deckers on the Water at Sale Water Park, Trafford.
In his business review Cliff Brierley said: “In the first half of the period sales and margin in the wholesale business were affected by the competitiveness of the changing market. As supply and demand varied in the industry the fluctuating prices affected the margins achievable.
“In addition, there were fewer one off buying opportunities due to the uncertainty of pricing in the market.
“The restaurant business was relatively static with a mixture of performance across the portfolio. The group’s directors worked to control significant overheads and maintain sales. During the period the directors accepted an offer for two of the restaurant businesses. The sale represented an attractive profit and generated significant cash flow.”
He said higher fuel prices, food inflation and minimum wage increases had impacted the directors’ ability to control costs.
Looking ahead he said trading conditions for 2012/13 are anticipated to be “consistent with the previous few years”.
In the wholesale business he said Deckers is looking to operate an increasingly more flexible business, using third-party warehousing and meeting customer needs on a ‘just in time basis’.
