Revolution Bars suspends share trading

REVOLUTION Bars has suspended its shares as a crisis in the nightclub industry forces the beleaguered chain into a scramble to raise cash.

Bosses at the company, which runs more than 50 bars and clubs and more than 20 pubs across the UK, are locked in talks with investors to stave off collapse after the group was hammered by cost increases and a turn away from late-night drinking by Gen Z customers.

The Aim-listed chain’s shares were suspended from the junior market yesterday under City rules after it failed to publish its financial results.

It comes after reports that the chain could close a quarter of its sites in an attempt to save the business. This could lead to hundreds of job losses.

Revolution Bars Group admitted last week it was “actively exploring all the strategic options”. Investors being

‘I think they’re having that fun earlier in the evening, they’ve brought their clock back’

approached for a lifeline include Luke Johnson, the former chairman of Pizza Express. The crisis comes after the nightclub industry was battered by rising energy costs and the cost of living crisis. Many late-night businesses were already struggling to recover from pandemic lockdowns.

Rob Pitcher, Revolution’s chief executive, said in a previous trading update that the rising cost of living had disproportionately affected students and young people who would previously have flocked to its bars.

As well as cost pressures, young people are also drinking less and going home earlier for lifestyle reasons.

Clive Watson, the co-founder of rival business the City Pub Company, told The Telegraph last year: “I think they’re having that fun earlier in the evening, they’ve brought their clock back.”

Revolution Bars lost £22.2m in the year to June 31 2023. Shares have fallen by almost 70pc over the last six months.