THE restaurant group behind Gaucho and M consolidated a bumper post-pandemic year in 2022 with further double digit profit growth in 2023, City A.M. can reveal.
Rare Restaurants saw like-for-like sales increases beyond 20 per cent in 2023, despite investment in three new openings including a new flagship restaurant in Covent Garden.
CEO Martin Williams said he was delighted with the figures and with the new audience coming through the doors of the iconic steakhouse.
Gaucho has seen a significant uptick in female and younger consumers, helped by pop-ups at Ascot, Silverstone and Monaco.
“We have seen brilliant growth in cities, towns and local neighbourhoods alike. With a pipeline of 30 UK locations, we will continue to grow our brands in a sustainable manner,” Williams told City A.M.
Covent Garden and the new Cardiff restaurant – currently enjoying a Six Nations boom – have already hit weekly net turnover of £200,000, the firm revealed.
“As we enter the thirtieth year of Gaucho and tenth year of M, it is amazing to continue to see our company grow in both turnover and profit,” he said.
“However, Ross (Butler, chief operating officer), Steve (Cramer, chief financial officer) and I find most pride in the engagement, development and success of our people as we enjoy a shared journey together, striving to continue to offer the highest levels of hospitality, undisputed quality of offering and an ‘ethical dining’ experience to our guests. All of the above is underpinned by our outstanding commitment to training and imagination in recruitment which includes a target of bringing disadvantaged individuals into our family.”
Williams’ investors are said to be looking at funding options for either further investment or an exit.