Expansion eyed by high-end restaurant chain Tattu after creating over 160 jobs

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A high-end restaurant chain is eyeing international expansion and new concepts after reporting a successful year.

The company behind the Tattu brand increased its headcount by 163 to 493 in the 12 months to December 25, 2022, as its turnover surged from £14.5m to £26.7m.

In newly-filed accounts with Companies House, the business said the significant rise in its turnover was because its restaurants could only trade for less than eight months in 2021 because of Covid restrictions. The increase was also helped by its London site opening in March 2022.

The business, which has restaurants in Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Edinburgh and London, also saw its pre-tax profits go from £2.7m to £1.9m in the year. Tattu’s Spinningfield’s restaurant has been visited by the likes of soap actors, members of the Real Housewives of Cheshire cast and wives and girlfriends of Manchester United stars.

Tattu is famous for its cherry blossom decor and experiential dining
(Image: Tattu)

The chain was founded by brothers Adam and Drew Jones from Blackburn and offers contemporary cuisine inspired by traditional Chinese flavours and ingredients, curated by executive chef Andrew Lassetter. The brothers detailed their expansion plans in an exclusive interview with BusinessLive in October last year.

In July 2023, the company rebranded from Tattu Manchester Limited to Permanently Unique Group. The business said the rebrand “ties in with the company’s plans to explore further avenues of expansion, including international opportunities and new concepts”.

Tattu has five restaurants across the UK
(Image: James Brown)

A statement signed off by the board said: “Trading in 2022 was exceptionally strong. The sales like-for-like compared to 2019 was 27% and was delivered through a mix of increased covers and a higher spend per head. Adjusted EBITDA was £4.7m (2021: £3.8m). The directors consider this to be a very good performance.

“People, culture, communication and training have continued to be a major focus in 2022. Significant investment has been made in order to roll out industry leading initiatives to ensure we effectively retain, recruit and train the best teams.”

Tattu restaurants are also known for their creative cocktails
(Image: Tattu)

It added: “Trading in the first quarter [of] 2023 more than exceeded expectations. In the second quarter, continued pressure on consumer discretionary spend stemming from high inflation and rising interest rates has had a negative impact on covers, although spend per head remains high due to the celebratory nature of the Tattu experience and the demographic of the Tattu customer.

“Soaring inflation has had an adverse impact on our food and energy costs in particular. We have been working very closely with suppliers to ensure food cost increases are minimised and we continually review recipes and products and amend if they become cost prohibitive.

Drew and Adam Jones, founders of Tattu
(Image: Joe Giacomet)

“Utility costs have increased significantly following the renewal of several contracts at the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023. The government discount scheme helped to mitigate the impact of this in quarter one and fortunately prices for the new contracts effective from November 2023 are much lower than current pricing.

“The Tattu restaurants achieve a high EBITDA conversion rate due to the level of spend per head. This provides comfort in the company’s ability to absorb inflationary increases in costs and to continue to deliver satisfactory profit margins should covers decrease as a result of issues with the UK economy.

“Furthermore, controlling and reducing costs without impacting the customer experience is a major focus for the management team and the relevant key performance indicators are monitored daily.”

Original artice – https://business-live.co.uk/all-about/yorkshire-humber

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Expansion eyed by high-end restaurant chain Tattu after creating over 160 jobs

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