Be At One announces record festive trading
Be At One, the UK’s leading specialist cocktail bar group, has reported a record festive trading period with like-for-like sales up 10%.
The company, founded in 1998 by Steve Locke, Leigh Miller and Rhys Oldfield, and which operates 31 bars across the UK including 18 in London, saw total sales jump 30%, for the five weeks of December.
During that period, the group sold a total of 516,510 cocktails with average sales per day of its best-selling cocktail – a Pornstar Martini – of 2,300 (71,300 in total), which at £9.80 per serve is equivalent to almost £700,000 in revenues.
Sales peaked on Friday 16 December, one of the two so-called ‘Mad Fridays’ during the month, with the group’s bars registering net sales of £340,000. Its Greek Street bar alone, in London’s Soho, took £37,000 on that day.
Other highlights include:
A sharp rise in group bookings – up 38% like-for-like versus 2015; up 56% in total for the group
New Year's Eve followed this trend, with bookings up 60% in total across all sites
The group saw a massive jump in the sale of pre-booked Christmas packages, up 600% year-on-year
Net Promoter Score – a key measure of customer engagement – maintained at 70% for December
In addition, it was clear that Be At One customers made the most of the Bank Holiday on 2 January, with sales on New Year’s Day up 140% across the group.
Looking at selected individual site performances, Cardiff was the best performing bar on Boxing Day in terms of revenue, while Shoreditch was the highest-taking bar on New Year's Day. Guests at the company’s bar in Birmingham, opened last year, consumed the most amount Champagne, getting through an impressive 500 bottles in December.
Commenting on the performance, Steve Locke, Co-founder and Director, said: “December trading tends to be a very strong period for Be At One as guests seek out a high-quality and special experience to celebrate the festive season.
“What is particularly pleasing this year is our performance in terms of bookings and our guests take up of special Christmas packages, which are massively up and has been embraced and driven by our hard-working teams.”
Be At One’s Milton Keynes venue recorded the best like-for-like sales growth for bookings, up 116%.
