For the six months to 30 September 2025, turnover rose 5% to £66.7m, while operating profit increased to £10.1m from £9.4m last year.
Chairman Richard Bailey said the group’s pub and inn businesses “continue to prove their worth” amid challenging market conditions, with investment and premiumisation helping offset a slight dip in beer volumes.
‘A good start’
“Our pubs got off to a good start due to a long dry and sunny period through spring and early summer,” Bailey said. “However, those early gains were reversed as the weather and consumer confidence deteriorated.”
Beer volumes for the half-year were down 1% year-on-year, but Thwaites’ inns performed strongly, with sales up 8% and profits up 15%, supported by the acquisition of The Buck Inn, Malham, and refurbishments at The Bulls Head, Earlswood, The Royal Oak, Keswick, and The Toll House, Lancaster.
Bailey said this focus on investment and community connection was key to maintaining resilience: “The tax burden on community pubs has reached its limit, particularly for landlords running smaller tenanted pubs. There is no scope for further increases, and in the upcoming Budget we have asked for business rates to be cut to alleviate the overtaxed position pubs find themselves in.”
Acquisitions and divestments
The business has continued to streamline its estate, selling four pubs that no longer met its requirements for a combined £1.8m, while investing £6.2m across the portfolio to support its “premium and experiential” strategy.
Last month, Thwaites acquired The Blue Bell Cider House in Earlswood, Solihull. The traditional canalside pub, once owned by the Bulmers family, serves local craft ales alongside traditional pub food.
Net debt fell to £66.7m, down from £71.2m last year, leaving the group with comfortable headroom on its £82m banking facility.
Bailey added that the group’s diversified mix of pubs, inns and hotels had proved crucial during unpredictable trading periods linked to weather, holidays and shifting customer behaviour.
“Our trading performance is holding up, although it is patchy across the different parts of the business,” he said. “We are benefitting from the diversification of the business and the strategy pursued in recent years to position ourselves into more premium, experiential and health-orientated markets.”
The group has also continued its push toward sustainability, following a £550k investment in solar energy projects at its head office and hotel sites last month.
“We have a well-invested, well-positioned business with opportunities to grow and create new employment — but we can only have confidence to do this if we have a stable and trustworthy fiscal and political framework to work with.”
