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The company behind Revolution Bars has put itself on the market for a potential sale after it revealed a decline in sales over the past three months.
Revel Collective, which runs venues under the Revolution, Revolution de Cuba and Peach Pub brands, said sales have been hit by cost-of-living pressures on its young customer base.
The group, which rebranded from Revolution Bars last year, also said the summer’s hot weather had taken its toll.
It told shareholders on Friday that the group has now appointed advisers to launch a strategic review of funding and other options to help improve its future prospects.
Revel Collective said it would involve a formal sale process to see if any potential parties or investors would like to buy the company.
It added that there are no current discussions taking place with potential contenders.
The group underwent a major restructuring last summer, in which it closed 15 unprofitable bars to improve its performance.
On Friday, the company’s bosses said persistent “challenging economic conditions” and “government interference in the last budget” had helped “thwart” its ability to improve since the restructuring.
,action Steps taken to reduce costs and increase margins are not enough to mitigate the negative impact of autumn Budget changes on employer NIC limits, minimum wage and duty on spirits, the company said.
In July, the company indicated there was cause for optimism after showing signs of improvement.
However, bosses said revenues have been weaker than expected over the past few months due to fragile consumer sentiment.
It said this was “particularly evident” among its younger customers, while its bar business had been hit by the hot weather.
Revenue fell 7.4% to £26.3 million in the three months to September, due to a similar decline of 10.5% in its bar business.
It said this offset the “satisfactory” performance of its Peach Pub business.
The company also revealed that its debt rose from £22.1 million to £25.3 million at the end of June.