UK losses have widened at Five Guys, the burger chain backed by entrepreneur Sir Charles Dunstone, after expansion costs bit, new accounts reveal.
The UK business, a 50:50 joint venture between Dunstone and Five Guys’ US-based founders, the Murrell family, increased its estate to 88 restaurants from 79 in 2018.
It recorded a pretax loss of £3.9 million, compared to a £3.1 million loss a year earlier.
However, operating profits were up, and the firm notched up sales of £149.6 million- up 23%.
John Eckbert, who leads the company in Britain, said comparable sales are up more than 10% so far in 2019.
He added: “Here in the UK, we are now into our third consecutive year of operating profitability, which is growing at a faster rate than our sales.”
Looking at the UK and European businesses combined (Five Guys European Holdings), revenues rose to £207.2 million from £151 million.
It posted a £32.4 million loss, compared to a £19 million loss. That was because of costs linked to setting up and aggressively expanding in newer markets, such as France, Germany and Spain.
