Marston's hails 'exciting momentum' after sales rise at West Midlands pub chain
Pub firm Marston's says it's building 'exciting momentum' after latest figures revealed strong sales for the company.
The Wolverhampton-based hospitality firm has reported a rise in sales of 2.9 per cent for the last quarter, which it says is in line with expectations, in its latest trading update.
The company ditched its brewing arm last year to focus on its hospitality business, but retains a number of pubs in Shropshire, including the Bandon Arms in Bridgnorth and the Sutherland Arms in Tibberton, near Newport.
As part of the new strategy, the firm expects to spend around £60 million on pub refurbishments and digital transformation projects such as mobile check-in and ordering systems this year in an effort to streamline its operations.
And the new strategy appears to be paying off, with a Q3 update delivered this morning (July 22) indicating profits are on track - with "encouraging momentum" for the second half of the year.
The company, which has an estate comprising more than 1,300 pubs, reported like-for-like sales for the 15-week period to July 12 rose 2.9 per cent and delivered against a strong 2024 which included the Euro Championships.
Excluding the impact of England matchdays in 2024, like-for-like sales were 4 per cent higher.
Sales also improved in the first half of 2025 and now stand at 2 per cent higher this year to date.
The company's roll-out of new pub formats is progressing ahead of schedule and showing "encouraging early results" with 26 pubs now refurbished and trading under new brand formats including 21 Two Door and five Grandstand sites.
A further five Woodie’s Family Pubs are due to open before the end of July, putting the group on track to exceed its target of 30 new-format refurbishments before the end of the year.
Justin Platt, CEO of Marston’s PLC, said: “We’re excited about the momentum we’re building throughout the business, with our performance enhanced by a strong pipeline of demand-driving events, continued growth from Order & Pay and our ongoing revenue management initiatives.
“We’ve made excellent progress against our strategic priorities so far this year, delivering improved margin performance, strong cash generation and the roll-out of our new pub formats.
“This momentum and our disciplined execution across the business gives us great confidence for the future, and we remain firmly on-track to deliver on full-year market expectations.”
The report added that strong progress was made towards the business’s goal of generating recurring free cash flow of more than £50 million in the near- to medium-term.
