Upmarket restaurant chain Belgo plans to roll out its pizza restaurant brand ‘Strada’ across the country less than a year after opening its first outlet in central London.
Announcing plans to open 50 new outlets, chief executive Andy Bassadone said the first three Stradas had been “very well received.”
Meanwhile the group is beginning to recognise the limits of monks, moules and frites, as found at flagship brand Belgo. The struggling Dublin and New York branches are finally on the point of breaking even but there will be no further foreign expansion. Specialist beer bar/restaurant-format Bierodrome will spearhead new openings.
In London, like-for-like sales levelled out at about 2% across the group after being down at the beginning of the year; a similar performance as existing branded outlets according to Bassadone. Other group brands such as The Collection, Bam-Bou and Pasha did less well.
Pre-tax profits were 33% higher at £4.06m on sales of £35.7m for the year ended 2 July.
EGi News 12/09/00
