Boss of Restaurant Group hails ‘good progress’

THE struggling owner of Frankie & Benny’s has reported falling half-year sales, but chief executive Andy McCue insisted the business has stabilised following turnaround efforts.

Like-for-like sales at the Restaurant Group fell 2.2% in the six months to July 2, with total sales dropping over 7% to £333.1m.

The firm, which is also behind Garfunkel’s and Chiquito, saw adjusted pre-tax profit plummet 30.4% to £25.5m. Statutory profit came in at £2.8m compared with a loss of £22.5m in the same period last year.

Mr McCue, who has been closing underperforming restaurants – including two Chiquito outlets in Cardiff and one in Swansea – and rejigging menus as he looks to rejuvenate the group, said: “We have made good progress against our strategic initiatives outlined in March. Our leisure customers are enjoying a bettervalue, higher-quality product, our growth plans for our pubs and concessions businesses are advancing well, and we have made good progress in delivering cost efficiencies.”

It comes after the group admitted it had lost value-conscious customers at Frankie & Benny’s following significant price hikes, with the firm pledging to “look at the pricing architecture of the menu” and “reinvigorate the value offer” in a bid to attract more families.

The firm said initiatives such as a menu option of £9.95 for two courses had begun to bear fruit.

“While there remains a lot to do, there are early signs of customer awareness of our changes, with recent data showing an uptick in value-for-money ratings, net promoter scores and the brand rankings for quality of ingredients and freshness of food,” the group said.

The Restaurant Group also said the performance of the its pubs was boosted by warm weather, helping soften the decline in restaurants.