Fish and chip-per: ‘Classic’ pub grub leads the way for Marston’s surging sales
Marston’s thanked warmer weather in June and appetite for classic pub like fish and chips grub for a surge in like-for-like sales for the 16 weeks ended July.
Unusually hot spells at the start of summer drove customers to pubs, with more people drinking and dining out hiking like-for-like sales by 10.9 per cent.
Group like-for-like sales for the 42-week period to July were also up 10.7 per cent compared to last year, with drink and food sales performing well.
Its share price spiked by more than 3.5 per cent by midday.
Chief Andrew Andrea, told City A.M that its food division has performed well recently after it streamlined its menu 14 months ago to serve “pub classics” such as fish and chips and pies.
“[We are not trying] to create a sort of expensive Italian menu. If a customer wants that, they’re likely to go to an Italian restaurant,” he said.
The Wolverhampton headquartered group has also rolled out “rhythm of the week offers” on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, which serve a meal with a free pint.
Andre said they have helped sales during quieter weekday periods, however he said the deal was not introduced to help sales amid the cost of living crisis.
“When people decide to go out, if you’re giving a good enough experience, they will spend money,” he said.
“We haven’t seen the shift down towards standard products or entry point products that you would ordinarily expect to see in a time of consumer squeeze.”
He added: “I wonder whether part of that is the fact that in nominal terms a lot of people have had a pay increase in April. They’re already living with inflation [and] they’ve got money in their pockets.”
It also said it plans to increase the number of franchise food led pubs it owns to 50, up from 13 after a successful period last year.
It was an optimistic update from the business, who last year offloaded 60 pubs to reduce debt it accrued.
“We are making good progress and are beginning to see the benefits of the actions we have taken in H1, simplifying our trading formats and repositioning our pub portfolio, as well as the investments we have made in our pub gardens and outside trading areas,” Andrea said.