Turnover doubled at Thorley Taverns

Other headline figures include gross profit up by 97% from £4.9m to £9.6m while operating profit dropped from £1.2m to £0.49m and profit before tax also fell from £1.1m to £0.4m.

Thorley Taverns operates 19 sites of which 15 are freeholds that the business describes as an “eclectic mix of licensed premises” and has retained all its key suppliers and said it has gained from long-term agreements. It employs about 350 staff.

It has continued to invest in its estate and spent almost £300,000 on repairs, renovations and developments within the past financial year.

Well placed

Thorley Taverns said in its latest accounts filed at Companies House: “The principal activity of the company during the year was the management of its eclectic mix of licensed premises, which included pubs, restaurants and hotels. The company is well placed moving forward.

“The company’s strategy is to provide high-quality outlets for its clientele and employees alike in which great quality food, drink and accommodation can be enjoyed.

“Any business is only as good as the people it employs so the company has a clear strategy of recruitment and training to make certain that a highly skilled team is able to ensure that customers receive only the best service. These teams have been retained despite the extremely challenging conditions of the past year.”

The availability of low-price alcohol in supermarkets will continue to be an important element of the current difficult trading conditions, the business said, along with the sector being heavily regulated and taxed.

Sufficient working capital

Its financial risks come from “the maintenance of sufficient working capital to enable the company to continue and expand its operations”

Thorley Taverns, which was incorporated in May 1990 but began operating as a family pub business in 1971, added it has maintained a close relationship with its bankers to ensure funding is available for “trading activities and capital assets”.

It summarised: “The company had a good cash position at the end of the year while continuing its investment in the repair, renovation and development of its outlets. The current assets to current liabilities ratio is 0.8 for the current year.

“The company had funded all investing and financing activities in the year without recourse to further borrowing and has maintained cash balances to provide it with the working capital it requires.”