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Restaurant Group's recovery takes hold

The restaurant owner is focusing its expansion on the pubs and concessions businesses, which it says continue to outperform the market
May 23, 2018

It’s been close to two years since Andy McCue took over as chief executive of the struggling Restaurant Group (RTN), and it looks as though the market may finally be starting to get behind his plan to turn around the leisure business. Shares rose after the company reported a slowdown in the sales decline in the first seven weeks of the second quarter to 1.8 per cent, after having fallen 4.3 per cent during the 20 weeks to May due to poor weather.

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Meanwhile, the pubs and concessions business continued to outperform the market. The group expects to open 10 pubs this year, including four  it bought from Ribble Valley Inns during the period. The concessions business is expanding into travel sites, with 12 new locations expected to open over the year.