BUZZWORKS Holdings pushed up pre-tax profits by 9.2 per cent last year and the Ayrshire hospitality group has pledged to continue its expansion throughout Scotland, hitting out at publicans who blame falling sales on stricter drink driving laws.
Its first venue in the east of the country is set to open in South Queensferry this summer, and managing director Kenny Blair said further openings outside its Ayrshire heartlands would follow.
Buzzworks, which currently operates ten venues, saw revenue for the year to April 2017 leap by 15.6 per cent to £14.8m with pre-tax profit coming in at £694,248.
Kevin Scott: pub firm's model highlights how much bars have changed
Mr Blair said there had been a “bit of an impact” from changes to drink driving laws, which has seen consumers refrain from having a drink with a meal. But he said it was “just another challenge”, adding: “A lot of people hide behind these things, say it’s this or that. Actually what’s wrong is that you’re not investing, you’re not innovating, you’re not working hard enough,” he said.
The financial year saw a £500,000 refurbishment of its flagship restaurant, Scotts in Troon. Since the year ended, the company opened Coach House in Bridge of Weir and refurbished Treehouse in Ayr.
“Last year was an exciting time for Buzzworks Holdings however we are constantly looking forward and our focus is now on how to make 2018 even more of a success as we expand into the east coast and beyond,” said Mr Blair.
He said the company, established in 1978 by Mr Wilson’s parents Stanley and Esther, was moving forward with “cautious optimism”.
Kevin Scott: pub firm's model highlights how much bars have changed
The South Queensferry venue, which will carry the Scotts name, was originally slated to open in December but the complexities of the renovations has pushed this back to summer. And Mr Blair said it would likely not be the only opening this year.
“We’re currently negotiating on two opportunities, which are both in the east [of the country],” he said. “There are certainly plenty of opportunities that we see. There are a number of towns around Scotland which are poorly served with hospitality facilities.”
Buzzworks has made its name by offering city centre quality in provincial towns. Mr Blair said that Ayrshire and South Ayrshire were now among the best parts of the country outside the major cities for such offerings, with all of the company’s bar restaurants in the south west of Scotland.
“We’re doing a good job of getting to grips with the challenges out there, and changing our business to suit,” he said. “And we’re reinvesting our profits to change our current estate as well as opening new venues.”
Over the business, almost two-thirds of sales come through food rather than traditional wet sales.
Kevin Scott: pub firm's model highlights how much bars have changed
Of the challenges facing the industry, Mr Blair said: “Apart from the economic backdrop or the lack of clarity and stability that exists for consumers, there is the depreciation of the pound which has led to increases in the cost of good, especially food and there’s the raising of the national living wage and business rates.”
But Mr Blair said for Buzzworks the glass is very much half full. “You hear a lot of doom and gloom, but we see opportunities.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel