A GLASGOW chef and entrepreneur has revealed plans for bar and bakery ventures as well as four new restaurants including one in Dubai.
Nico Simeone, founder of the Six by Nico series of restaurants, hailed its “amazingly loyal customer base” of more than half a million as it “bounced back very strongly” from Covid restrictions with a return to profit, and a turnover of nearly £31 million.
The group is also drawing up plans for international expansion, with potential for the new venture in Dubai towards the end of 2023.
Sixco Limited, the Glasgow-based group behind the Six by Nico network, said it has been serving over 10,000 diners per week across 13 sites in the UK and Ireland, and it recorded turnover of £30.8m for the year to June 2022, set against £18.1m for the prior 15-month period to June 2021.
Operating profits from continuing operations rose to £4.4m to June 2022, against a loss of £600,000 in the pandemic-hit 15 months to June 2021. Ebitda from continuing operations was £5m, compared to a loss of £100,000 in the 15 months ended June 2021.
READ MORE: Six by Nico opens first restaurant outside the UK
It also secured an £11.5m funding facility with challenger bank ThinCats to support the Sixco expansion strategy.
Mr Simeone said the business “emerged from the pandemic in a stronger position than much of the sector”, and that the group will deliver a significant expansion in the next 12 months.
He said: “While Covid was a huge challenge, we’ve bounced back very strongly, thanks to our amazingly loyal customer base who stayed with us through the lockdowns and have returned to our restaurants in phenomenal numbers.
“That’s down to our dedicated and hard-working team who have been absolutely brilliant, delivering consistent creativity and fun experiences day-in, day-out.”
The group and its staff also raised over £300,000 for Sixco’s charity partner, Beatson Cancer Charity during this period, largely through the Beat6 not-for-profit restaurant in Glasgow.
READ MORE: Six by Nico to open new Scottish restaurant
During the 12 months to June 2022, the company invested £3.9m, opening new Six by Nico sites in Canary Wharf, Dublin and Aberdeen, and Tan&Ns, a wine importer that supplies all the group’s wet requirements.
Rob Wirszycz, Sixco Group chairman, said: “Nico’s genius in coming up with the concept of fixed-price, six-course tasting menus that change every six weeks has struck a resounding chord with the dining public.
“Crucially, thanks to our core strategy of building customer loyalty, we emerged strongly from the pandemic and now have a fast-expanding database of more than 550,000 engaged and active customers, all literally hungry for the experiences we deliver.
“Our headcount has expanded to over 500 colleagues, despite the well-known challenges the industry has faced in recruitment and retention, and our employee benefits are highly competitive.
“The plans we have developed to extend our network and broaden our offering in the UK and overseas are enormously exciting.
“We’ve done our homework and are confident we’ll continue to deliver on our ethos of bringing incredible value for money and great food and drink experiences, that we believe gives us a level of resilience at a tough time for the sector more generally.”
READ MORE: Six by Nico creator Nico Simeone creates hundreds of jobs in pandemic
Mr Simeone also said: “At our core we are creative, agile and driven to deliver for our customers and 2023 promises to be our most exciting year.
"We’re really confident that, despite the economic headwinds, our high-value and high-experience restaurants will continue to excite our customers into the new year and beyond.”
The firm created 277 jobs during the pandemic after it introduced a meal delivery business called Home X.
It said earlier that the venture, centred around a 12,000 sq ft facility at Anniesland in Glasgow, had “played a pivotal role” in helping it “survive the challenges of Covid” during the height of the pandemic.
Sixco Limited’s sites cover Six by Nico in Glasgow Southside and Finnieston, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Belfast, Dublin, Manchester, London Fitzrovia and Canary Wharf and Liverpool, with Beat6, ChateauX and 111 by Modou also in Glasgow.
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