Scottish hospitality group with 19 venues warns rising costs could impact growth plans

Ayrshire-based Buzzworks Holdings, which runs a string of bars and restaurants across east, west and central Scotland employing more than 800 staff, said it had been steadfast with its expansion and growth strategy, creating 100 new jobs in the last year. As part of this expansion, the group invested £4.7 million in the past year including the opening of Scotts in Greenock as well as further growth into the east coast with Thirty Knots in South Queensferry followed by the opening of Herringbone Abbeyhill in Edinburgh. It also invested in the refurbishment of its current portfolio including Lido Troon, Scotts Largs and Herringbone venues in Goldenacre and North Berwick.

Managing director Kenny Blair said: “We have stuck to our plans for expansion, investment in our portfolio and development of our people and despite challenging conditions, we’ve had a successful year. Hospitality is an integral part of life throughout the country and without it, our towns and cities would be pretty miserable places to live.

“We want to continue to invest but we’re not immune to external factors coming our way that will impact the pace for growth. Our industry is experiencing pressures from increased property costs, increased rate of pay from the national living wage and general overhead inflation including energy costs. We’re trying to navigate this and won’t compromise on our high standards.”

The group reported revenues of £29.9m for the year ending April 30, 2023 - up by almost a fifth on the previous year. Underlying earnings before site opening costs and non-recurring items came in at £2.94m, down from £3.95m in the previous year, which was supported by the reduced VAT rate on food sales and a payment holiday on business rates.

The group also reported like-for-like sales growth of 5.3 per cent for the five weeks to the end of December 2023.

Hospitality in Scotland in 2023 - there’s plenty of reasons to be positive as we go into 2024