The Alchemist, which operates 23 cocktail bars with food across the UK with one site in Berlin, Germany, has been under the ownership of Palatine since 2015.
Palatine is believed to be working with financial adviser Pura Advisory, according to Sky News but Pura Advisory told The Morning Advertiser there is no live sale process under way at the moment.
Although The Alchemist posted a slight drop in turnover in its financial year results, released this week, it stated it was in “robust shape”.
The Alchemist employs close to 1,000 staff and reported turnover at of £56.2m for the year ending 31 March 2025, down from £58.6m the previous year – which was a “record year” for the business.
Challenging trading environment
The fall had been driven by a challenging trading environment impacted by civil unrest and fragile consumer confidence, The Alchemist stated in its latest trading update.
Despite a net loss of £644,000, the Cheshire-based business delivered site earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £9m.
Gross profit stood at £25.7m for the period, down slightly from £26.2m last year, and operating profit was £284k (2024: £1.5m)
Loss before tax increased from £1.1m to £2.1m in FY25 compared to FY24.
The Alchemist said in its report: “The business remains in robust shape. Gross margins were maintained thanks to excellent control of food and liquor costs, and the directors are confident that strong decisions taken during the period have protected the long-term ambitions to grow the brand both in the UK and overseas.”
Overseas expansion
Late last year, The Alchemist was plotting expansion overseas after opening its Berlin site in 2023.
In November CEO Simon Potts told a summit: “Growth is baked into the business and management structure. We knew sooner or later we’d run out of whitespace in the UK. We need pumping [into] metro cities so we decided to get in front of it.
“We’re getting a sense of what we can achieve [in Germany] on the back end of our first franchise agreement, and we hope to have a site open further east [in 2025].”
The Alchemist won Best Drinks Offer in the 2023 Publican Awards, seeing off Albion & East and Casa Hotels.
Palatine was contacted for comment.
