Marston's celebrates 'significant profit growth' with Christmas bookings 11 per cent ahead of last year
Bosses at Marston’s are looking forward to a happy Christmas after announcing a second year of “significant growth” with profits before tax up from £42.1 million to £72.1 million.
The Wolverhampton-based pub company said its new pub formats, digital transformation and cost efficiencies have all played a part in bolstering pre-tax profits by 71.3 per cent.
The company’s full year results say new pub formats have contributed to strong results for the 52-week period to September 27 this year, published today (Tuesday).
The launch of new concepts including Two Door, Grandstand Locals Sport, and Woodie’s family pubs have proven successful - with 31 pub conversions completed this year - delivering an average revenue uplift of 23 per cent.
Standout events such as the Hasbro Trivial Pursuit partnership, the UK’s biggest Oktoberfest celebrations, and Tom Shepherd’s limited-edition 'Best Ever Pub Pie' have boosted loyalty and reasons to visit, leading to record guest satisfaction, the results said.
Meanwhile, the pub chain has accelerated its digital transformation, with enhanced Order & Pay now live across all managed sites. This has driven a 10 per cent plus uplift in revenue per transaction.
The business has also taken a disciplined approach to cost management, employing a 'Right People, Right Time' labour model.
Justin Platt, CEO of Marston’s PLC, said: “We’ve delivered another strong year ahead of plan, executing on our strategy to be a high-margin, highly cash-generative local pub company. For the second consecutive year, we’ve delivered significant growth in profit, margin and free cash flow, underlining the strength of our market-leading pub operating model and the outstanding work of our teams.
“Guest satisfaction has reached record levels – a fantastic endorsement of the passion and dedication of our people and the quality and consistency they deliver every day. Our new pub formats are performing exceptionally well, clearly demonstrating the growth opportunity ahead and giving us real conviction to scale further.
“We enter 2026 with significant momentum and confidence in our ability to keep driving growth, while delivering great experiences for our guests and creating sustainable value for our shareholders.”
Looking to Christmas, the company says festive bookings are strong - around 11 per cent ahead of the same point last year.
It expects to serve up more than 50,000 turkey joints, five million brussels sprouts, 15 tonnes of cranberry sauce, 1.2 million pigs in blankets and 100,000 Christmas puddings.
