Intertain looking to be more 'aspirational'

Speaking at a presentation for suppliers in Derby, chief executive John Leslie said that at the moment it is slightly ahead, in terms of customer group and spend, of the likes of Wetherspoons and Reflex and just behind Scream, Chicago’s and Varsity.

Intertain is targeting the space of higher-spend rival brands such as Revolution, Pitcher & Piano and O’Neill’s.

Sales​

The firm defines “aspirational” venues as those with average weekly wet sales of £20,511, growing at 2.4% year-on-year, and food sales of £7,379 (+4.9%). According to a company snapshot of trading in August, Walkabout had an average weekly wet trade of £24,251, a decline of 5% year-on-year, and dry sales of £2,353 (+15.1%).

Lower, so-called “plastic value” brands, are running at weekly wet sales of £14,277 (-1.8%) and food sales of £3,796 (+3.6%).

Refurbishment​

Meanwhile, Intertain chief operating officer Simon Kaye discussed the impact of recent refurbishment projects. Walkabout in Lincoln site, which re-opened two weeks ago, has seen a 47% sales uplift. Kaye lauded the “stunning results” at the venue, which he said is now taking over £30,000 a week.

Elsewhere, Blackpool is up 5.3% five weeks after its refurb, Carlisle is up 7.5% after 18 weeks and Derby up 24.5% after 20 weeks.

At the same time, the upgrades have also brought a change to the sales mix at the sites. For example at Derby food sales have moved from 4% to 9%, wine and cocktail sales from 4% to 6% and day trade from 9% to 19%. At the Lincoln site, food sales are c£6,000, up from about £1,000 pre-refurb.

Leslie said eight of the nine refurbs undertaken in just over two years have been successful (Leeds has been the exception).

Kaye announced that Intertain has appointed Brett Collier, former operations manager at Novus, to the role of operations manager for the Walkabout operator.