Cask ale boosts Marston's sales
The resurgence in cask ale and innovative new food menus are driving a renewed vigour in sales across the Marston's managed estate, according to chief executive Ralph Findlay.
Like-for-like drinks sales in the brewer's 496 managed pubs rose 1.6 per cent over the eight weeks to November 28 - while food sales leapt ahead 5.3 per cent over the same period.
Findlay said it was clear that there was now "real momentum" back in the managed estate.
"We've been seeing this trend since about February this year, and our second half performance has shown a significant improvement," he told ThePublican.com
"We are continuing to work with new menus, introducing new items and the drinks side is widening with the growth of cask ale."
It was clear that Marston's pubs were benefiting from the range of regional beers, from Jennings to Ringwood, now offered by the brewer, backed by national marketing support, Findlay continued.
"There is a trend in the market for people to be more interested in choice, quality and ingredients - and good cask ale ticks all of these boxes," he said.
Whilst the performance in the 1,688-strong tenanted and leased estate is still extremely challenging - with profits dropping five per cent over the eight weeks to November 28 - the Marston's boss said 80 per cent of the pubs were "generally performing well in a tough environment".
The majority of the £3m-worth of support is being pumped into the remaining 20 per cent, and Findlay said the figure was likely to be similar over the next year.
But he added: "This is not a long-term solution, and we would hope to reduce the figure by 2011."
Earlier this morning Marston's announced group sales of £451m for the year to October 3, 2009, down 1.4 per cent, and pre-tax profits down 13.7 per cent to £70.3m, with operating margins down 1.1 percentage points.
