Bar refurbishments help Yates turn sales corner

A complete refurbishment of almost all of its bars has given Yates Group a much needed turnaround in sales.

The company, which has updated all but 20 of its bars in the past 12 months, said that like-for-like sales went up by 2.6% in the 10 weeks ended 14 March, with the new-format 21st Century Yates bars showing an increase of 5.3%.

For the 50-week period to 14 March, Yates's Wine Lodge like-for-like sales were down by 3.9%, while those of the 21st Century Yates bars were up by 1.7%. Like-for-like sales for the group's Ha!Ha! brand were up by 3.7%.

Chief executive Mark Jones said that the turnaround was a result of the new-look bars, the good performance of the Ha!Ha! brand, and a dramatic fall in staff turnover since it started paying above the minimum wage last April.