Major fire hits CPL turnover but profit increases

Deputy Business Editor

Saturday 7 July 2012

THE company which owns popular Glasgow venues such as The Garage and The Cathouse saw its full year results hit by a major fire which left part of Sauchiehall Street cordoned off for months.

DIRECTOR: Donald MacLeod set up CPL Entertainment Group which owns The Garage and The Cathouse.

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GREIG CAMERON deputy business Editor

CPL Entertainment Group said the fire in February 2011, which broke out in the Steak and Cherry restaurant, was the main reason turnover at the business declined 2.6% from £5.6 million to £5.46m in its most recent accounts.

The company, set up by Donald MacLeod and which also owns The Tunnel, did manage to increase pre-tax profits in the 12 months to September 30, 2011 from £67,201 to £94,748.Operations and finance director Brian Fulton said: "2011 was a tough year."Initially it was going well until January then there was the fire on Sauchiehall Street. "The road was then closed for several months and that had a really negative effect on us and other businesses in the area."Mr Fulton said the increase in profits was due to a number of factors.He said: "We have a good management team that work hard for their individual units."We have been keeping things as tight as we possibly can and ensuring we are getting the best prices we possibly can in the market."We have gone down the premium route so are pouring Smirnoff, Jack Daniels and Jagermeister to try and ensure customers are getting good value for money rather than attracting them by deep discounting."There has been little evidence of an upturn in trade during the current financial year but CPL is pressing ahead with a joint venture in Aberdeen.A site on Windmill Brae will have a Campus bar downstairs and Garage on top. Mr Fulton said: "We are hopefully putting lots of bands on and making it part of the gig circuit up there."CPL, which employs 244 people, has also been experimenting with new types of events, such as wrestling and comedy, in a bid to keep customers coming back.Mr Fulton said: "We want to be able to use the nightclubs as venues. It is really just trying to use the spaces for whatever we can as the more we can use the assets the better."It is good for our management teams to get experience of all these different types of events." As in previous years, auditor Milne Craig drew attention to the company's capitalisation of goodwill which in this case was £5.06m. The auditor wrote CPL argued this showed a true and fair view of the company.Mr MacLeod is the sole director and according to the accounts his remuneration dropped from £164,438 to £160,157.''

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Major fire hits CPL turnover but profit increases

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