Oakman Inns ends 2016 with a rise in sales and a £3.6m acquisition
Oakman Inns has enjoyed a "stellar" Christmas, with a 6.7% rise in like-for-like sales in the four-week trading period ending 1 January.
The news came as the group also bought the Royal Foresters, a former Beefeater and Premier Inn, in Ascot for £3.6m on 30 December.
Oakman Inns has submitted planning application to convert a former nursing home in Olney to an Oakman Inn, and exchanged contracts for the freehold of 10 Akeman Street in Tring to allow the company to extend their flagship site.
The company's accounts for year ending April 2016 saw group turnover rise by 52.8% to £19.3m. Like for like sales over the period were up by 5.7% and Group EBITDA doubled to £794k.
Oakman Inns & Restaurants' CEO, Peter Borg-Neal, said: "We were very pleased with our performance in 2015/16. The current year is going exceptionally well and we are considerably ahead of our budget for the year. We saw some choppiness with respect to sales at the beginning of Q3 but a stellar performance over Christmas has got us back on target.
"The acquisition of The Royal Foresters is hugely significant for Oakman Inns. I admired this site when I was at Whitbread and have coveted it ever since. It is a huge investment for us but we are confident that we have the skills to get strong returns from our investment."
John Leslie, the former CEO of Intertain and a former board colleague of Peter Borg-Neal at Allied Domecq in the 1990s, has been appointed non-executive director to help the company to action its long term growth and development strategy.
Meanwhile, the company has agreed terms for a £7m debt and capital growth facility, and has already raised £5.9m through its Oakman Bond, with a target of £10m.
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