For Oakman Inns’ CEO, Peter Borg-Neal, it has already been another year to remember: Borg-Neal will have opened six new restaurants, raised £10million from private investors, removed all Bank debt, and strengthened his board to give the company a new depth of experience and abilities.
And he also managed to get married with an eight hour reception, fit in a huge party for all the Oakman staff (closing the business for an entire day), and then head off for a few days’ honeymoon.
However, it has been Peter Borg-Neal, together with the CFO Joseph Evans, who joined Oakman from Whitbread last year, who have generated a set of outstanding financial figures for the financial year 2014/15 that ended in April.
Key Points that will appear in the Annual Report:
- Financials:
o Total sales up circa 20% year on year
- Like4Likes up circa 9% over the year
- Profit budget for the year achieved
- New sites are doing well and all are ahead of investment target:
- For example, The White Hart in Ampthill is averaging over £40k net of VAT per week
- A number of important new appointments have been made as Oakman steps up its rate of growth:
- Gordon Browne, formerly of Orchid, has joined as Financial Controller
- Lisa Yearwood, formerly of Drake & Morgan, has joined as marketing consultant
- Ross Pike, formerly of The British Larder, has joined as Chef Director
- Oakman is currently developing sites at two further locations:
- The Navigation Inn Cosgrove which opens 6th June
- The Kings Head Chipping Ongar opening early July
Peter Borg-Neal commented:
“We have had an excellent 2014/15 with financial results and progress that are entirely the result of my team’s skills, abilities and support. We have received awards from the financial sector, the hospitality and brewing industries and from the environmental and sustainability sector – again all due to the quality of The Oakman team, and our board has been strengthened within that time by my two Executive Director colleagues, Joseph Evans and Alex Ford, who joined during 2014 and who have helped make the impact we have had on the market.
“I have always believed that great people are the key to success and I am delighted that we have made two new crucial appointments. Gordon Browne gained a wealth of experience with Orchid and his appointment will free up Joseph Evans to take a more central commercial role in the business. Lisa is a hugely innovative thinker who will propel our marketing strategy forward. I am particularly excited that Ross has agreed to join our team. We have an excellent reputation for our food, but as with everything we do, we are always aspiring to do more and to do it better than anyone else.
“By the time The Kings Head opens in Ongar in July we will look back on a period of twelve months when we have taken the business from seven to thirteen sites, initiated our own management and staff academies and raised our quality and profitability. We continue to look for new sites and have two or three in the Home Counties under consideration. Furthermore, we have raised £10 million to strengthen our balance sheet and now have no bank debt.
“We are all tremendously optimistic about Oakman in 2015/16 as we really start to see what the engine we have built can achieve.”
About Oakman Inns & Restaurants
The multiple award winning company was founded in 2007 by its CEO, Peter Borg-Neal. The company has established the new concept of the ‘modern public house’ by successfully transforming both historic and modern buildings into contemporary spaces for the benefit of the communities which they serve. By July, the Oakman Inns collection will comprise 13 ‘all-day’ establishments across Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire and Essex, many of which are listed, and which have been sympathetically restored.
For more information about Oakman Inns & Restaurants click here
Oakman Inns’ pubs:
- The Akeman in Tring – December 2007
- The Old Post Office, Wallingford – February 2009
- The Red Lion in Water End – November 2009
- The Kings Arms in Berkhamsted – December 2010
- The Blue Boar, Witney – December 2011
- The Beech House, Beaconsfield – April 2013
- The Crown & Thistle, Abingdon-on-Thames – November 2013
- The Beech House, St Albans – September 2014
- The Akeman Inn, Kingswood – November 2014
- The Globe, Warwick – February 2015
- The White Hart, Ampthill – May 2015
- The Navigation Inn, Cosgrove – opens 6th June 2015
- The Kings Head, Chipping Ongar – opens July 2015