October 2024 saw the company reveal five new pub formats as part of its aim to be a “pure play hospitality business”, including spots-focused brand Grandstand, family pub arm Woodies and split-site concept Two Door.
Since then, growth for the Wolverhampton-based pubco, which operates around 1,300 pubs across the UK, has become increasingly driven by refurbishment activity and rollout of the new pub formats.
In its most recent trading update, published on Tuesday 12 May, the business stated all new formats were performing well, delivering like-for-like growth of about a fifth (20%) across the 26 weeks to 28 March 2026.
The group reported Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation (EBITDA) of £85.9m, unchanged year on year, with operating profit up 1.7% to £64.4m and profit before tax rising 7.9% to £20.5m.
It said cost control and efficiency measures helped offset the impact of increased investment and temporary closures linked to refurbishments.
Exceeding targets
Marston’s invested £39m during the 26-week period, up from £31m a year earlier, with refurbishment costs averaging around £260,000 per pub.
Around 60 conversions were completed in the period, split between 31 Grandstand sites and 29 Two Door pubs, finishing ahead of its original target of 50.
It also took the total number of transformed sites under its current programme to approximately 91 across FY25 and FY26.
With Grandstand and Two Door accounting for the majority of recent conversions, these brands appear to be positioned as the group’s primary scalable trading models and the centre of its investment strategy.
At site level, converted pubs delivered like-for-like sales growth of around 20% and revenue per site increases of 20–23%, supported by stronger food sales, longer dwell times and event-led trading, particularly in Grandstand venues.
At group level, trading was more subdued as sales, while remaining broadly stable, saw some impact from temporary closures during refurbishment periods.
This meant headline revenue performance has not fully reflected underlying improvements in converted sites, where trading has strengthened.
Key feature
Despite this, profitability has held up, supported by cost discipline and the higher returns generated by refurbished pubs once reopened.
Meanwhile, the gap between refurbished and legacy pubs has continued to widen, highlighting the extent to which performance is being driven by the pace and execution of the conversion programme.
The strategy has also resulted in a more capital-intensive operating model, with investment prioritised over short-term trading continuity as the group continues to reinvest in its existing estate.
Looking at the picture as a whole, the past 18-months point to a business still in transition, moving towards a model built around a smaller number of clearly defined pub formats.
Instead of performance being spread evenly across the estate, more of the value is now coming from a smaller group of refurbished, higher-performing sites.
That shift also suggests Marston’s will continue to rely on upgrading and converting pubs to drive growth. The difference in performance between refurbished and older sites is also likely to remain a key feature of trading over the medium term.
