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The executive chairman outlined the ‘vast increases in business rates, employers’ national insurance contributions and alcohol duty’ as well as ‘new taxes’ such as the apprenticeship levy, extended producer responsibility, energy and environmental taxes, sugar tax and the threat of a holiday tax.
Furthermore, the pub group boss highlighted how the industry has seen 5,800 permanent pub closures while since the hike in national insurance contributions for young employees, youth unemployment had risen to 15%, “creating another self-inflicted problem for society the Government now needs to solve”, he said.
He called on the Government to reduce VAT for hospitality “to kick start further investment and help take the country back into growth”.
This came as the business reported its financial results for the 52 weeks to 28 March 2026.
It revealed revenue was up 5.7% to £397.8m with a rise in like-for-like sales in its managed division by 4.9%.
Food like-for-like sales across the managed pubs and hotels increased by 3.5% while drinks rose by 5.8% with accommodation sales up 4.9%.
Business investment
The company invested £32.2m in its existing estate including 14 transformations including the Wellington in Waterloo, the Parcel Yard in King’s Cross station and the Bull Hotel in Bridport.
During the period, Fuller’s added two freehold pubs to its tenanted estate - the Avalon in Clapham and the Duke of Sussex in Waterloo.
More recently, it revealed like-for-like sales for the 10 weeks to 6 June 2026 were up 4.4%.
Meanwhile, growth in profit margins, combined with revenue growth delivered significant improvement in adjusted profit before tax, increasing 28% to £34.6m.
Elsewhere in the trading update, Fuller’s laid out its continued investment in people with more than 439 chef training sessions held at its new Fuller’s Kitchen Academy in Reading and continued roll out of its Lead Your Way management training programme.
Emeny said: “I am delighted, as I complete my first year as executive chairman, to report it has been another successful year for Fuller’s.
“Like-for-like sales in our managed estate are up 4.9%, revenue for the company is up 5.7% to £397.8m and both our managed pubs and hotels and tenanted inns divisions have grown - resulting in adjusted profit before tax rising 28% to £34.6m.
“Combined with our capital allocation framework and continued share buyback programme, we have also seen adjusted earnings per share rise 38% - achieving market-leading growth in this metric.”
Exciting opportunities
He added: “The new financial year has begun well. Like-for-like sales for the first 10 weeks have risen by 4.4%, building on a strong comparative period last year and our underlying profitability continues to improve, maintaining the momentum we have built in recent years.
“As we move into the summer season, preparations have gone well. Our garden investment programme has seen fresh space created for peak trading, advance bookings for the World Cup have been strong and we are seeing increased demand for staycations benefitting our excellent rooms business.
“We have exciting opportunities for the coming year with plans to invest more than £30m across the estate.
“In addition, we will begin the transformation of the Barrowboy & Banker, an existing freehold site by London Bridge, where we will create a 26-bedroom hotel to mirror the successful investment made previously at the Counting House, Cornhill.
“We have also today announced plans to extend our share buyback programme with the buyback of 1m ”A" shares and we will continue to actively pursue new site acquisition opportunities where we believe the addition will complement the quality o the existing estate and deliver strong returns.
“The results we have delivered this year are driven by our strong operational performance, a proven successful strategy, an outstanding team of people and a robust capital allocation framework, which combined reflect the success of our long-term business model.
“While we are monitoring the ongoing geopolitical and economic situations, we remain optimistic and confident we will continue to deliver further progress for our people, our customers and our shareholders.”
