Revolucion de Cuba, Sheffield: Popular Yorkshire bar to close as younger customers feel strain of cost of living crisis

It came despite the company reporting its best Christmas trading period since 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, which forced bars across the country to close. Like-for-like sales were up 9.0 per cent in December, Revolution told shareholders on Friday. However, it was not enough to prevent a 2.8 per cent drop in like-for-like revenue across the six months to the end of December.

“We have had the best festive trading period for four years with all of our brands recording positive like-for-like sales and Revolucion de Cuba being the standout performer,” said chief executive Rob Pitcher.

“However, our younger customers are still feeling the disproportionate effect of the cost-of-living crisis and the national living wage will increase materially in April 2024.

“Therefore, we have taken the difficult yet ultimately beneficial step for the group to close several bars which are unprofitable.”

He added: “Our teams do a terrific job in making guests welcome and giving them a great experience and again we have demonstrated that when our customer base can afford to do so, they are choosing to celebrate with us, and we have delivered record levels of guest satisfaction.

“This should bode well for the future.”

The company will report a trading update for the first six months of its financial year on January 24.

In October last year, Revolution Bars warned that the late-night hospitality industry was facing “very challenging” times.

At the time, the group said young people were facing a cost-of-living squeeze and visitor numbers were being affected by train strikes.

In October, it told investors its total revenues were up by £11.8m to £152.6m in the year to the end of July compared to the previous year, after taking over Peach Pubs – a chain of 21 gastropubs focused in UK market towns – the previous year. Mr Pitcher said there had been a “seismic shift” after the Covid pandemic, with the cost-of-living crisis now being the most significant factor impacting the hospitality sector. Young people had been the most impacted by high inflation, which has reduced the value of their wages, he said last autumn.