Marston’s to ‘substantially increase the pace of investment’ in 2027

Marston’s vows to convert around 100 venues in its estate next year following a “strong performance” from its sports-led pubs concept. Jessica Mason reports.

In a recent trading update, Marston’s revealed that it recently sold 2 million pints during England fixtures in the World Cup, highlighting the importance of sport and community-focused pubs. The group also noted that its new pub formats all continue to deliver excellent like-for-like sales growth.

The standout performer

Grandstand pubs, the group’s sports-led concept, has been the standout performer, generating year-to-date like-for-like sales growth of around 30% in the 36 conversions completed to date. Marston’s has also described its recent success as “strong trading during the World Cup with England match days delivering like-for-like sales growth of 22%, and sales up circa 170% year-on-year across Grandstand pubs”.

Grandstand pubs have been positioned to create an immersive, stadium-like feel and feature large screens and advanced sound systems along with tiered seating, pub games and match-day food and drink promotions.

The group, which operates 1,300 pubs across the UK, has seen “improved margins” despite year-to-date like-for-like sales being 1.6% lower than last year. Last year, Marston’s celebrated its second consecutive year of strong profit growth, attributing the rise, to its “new formats, digital innovation and cost efficiencies” all delivering revenue uplift.

This year, the board has said that it has shown “confidence in delivering full-year market expectations” and expects to achieve the EBITDA margin expansion target “significantly ahead of schedule”.

According to the group’s board, in 2027 “Marston’s will substantially increase the pace of investment, delivering circa 100 conversions focused on the Grandstand format”.

‘Investing in growth remains the priority’

The group has also outlined that “investing in growth remains the priority” and also highlighted that “shareholder returns remain an important component of the group’s capital allocation framework”. Data gathered by the Pubs Code Adjudicator (PCA) has annually highlighted tenant sentiment towards, and their relationships with tied pub companies and Marston’s was shown to have a high overall satisfaction level for many of its pub tenants.

Marstom’s CEO Justin Platt said “Our pubs have delivered a strong start to the summer, with an excellent World Cup once again underlining the enduring role of the community pub as the place the nation comes together to cheer the moments that matter. Our new Grandstand pubs have been leading the way and continue to perform ahead of expectations, while our accelerated investment programme is driving further trading momentum and enhancing guest experiences across our estate.”

Platt added: “Supported by a clear strategy, disciplined cost control and continued investment in our new formats, we are well positioned for the summer trading period ahead. Given this, as well as our progress on leverage reduction, the group is well-placed to recommence shareholder returns in FY2027.”

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