London on-trade groups see festive sales uplift

By Gemma McKenna

Published: 13 January, 2015

Restaurant group D&D London and Davy's Wine Merchants have seen solid uplifts in performance over the Christmas trading period.

D&D London saw UK lfl sales grow 10% in December 2014

D&D, which operates 27 restaurants across London including Avenue and Chelsea's Bluebird, said overall sales increased 14% in December versus the previous year with UK like-for-likes up 10% in that period. Champagne sales rocketed 15% over the month.

Chief executive Des Gunewardena said: "We had an exceptionally strong Christmas. What was good to see was the fact that business was well up on last year across the board.

"Stand out performers were our recently remodelled London restaurants (Quaglino's, Avenue and Carom) and our restaurants in Leeds (Crafthouse and Angelica). These venues all recorded revenue growth of more than 20%. Sales growth at Christmas came from a combination of increased covers and growth in spends - Champagne sales were up 15% on 2013."

D&D London

James Davy James Davy, chairman of Davy's Wine Merchants

Fellow London operator Davy's Wine Merchants, which also runs 27 London sites, has reported like-for-like sales growth of 8.6% across its bars and restaurants, and an increase of 2.1% at its wine outlets.

Meanwhile supplier Liberty Wines said its overall December sales were up 15.8% in December on last year. The on-trade grew by just over 14%, with the independent off-trade up 17%.

Managing director David Gleave MW said it had been "steady, with no big bang, Christmas just built nicely". He said trading was sustained through most of December and carried on until just a few days before Christmas, with some "good orders" in the following week ahead of New Year's Eve. He said sales were strong "not just in London, but outside too". "There's no real weakness across the country - the figures weren't skewed by any customer or region," he said.

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