Revolution Bar in Wilmslow one of eight venues set to close

Revolution Bar on Alderley Road will close, the nationwide chain has announced.

It is one of eight venues due to shut as the company warns that its younger customers are still feeling a “disproportionate” strain from rapid increased in the cost of living.

This comes despite the company reporting its best Christmas trading period since 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

“We have had the best festive trading period for four years with all of our brands recording positive like-for-like sales and Revolucion de Cuba being the standout performer,” said chief executive Rob Pitcher.

“However, our younger customers are still feeling the disproportionate effect of the cost-of-living crisis and the national living wage will increase materially in April 2024.

“Therefore, we have taken the difficult yet ultimately beneficial step for the group to close several bars which are unprofitable.”

Like-for-like sales were up 9.0 per cent in December, Revolution told shareholders on Friday (January 5).

Yet it was not enough to prevent a 2.8 per cent drop in like-for-like revenue across the six months to the end of December.

The company will report a trading update for the first six months of its financial year on January 24.

Mr Pitcher added: “Our teams do a terrific job in making guests welcome and giving them a great experience and again we have demonstrated that when our customer base can afford to do so, they are choosing to celebrate with us, and we have delivered record levels of guest satisfaction.

“This should bode well for the future.”

Along with Wilmslow, Revolution Bars in Beaconsfield, Derby, Reading and St Peters Liverpool will close.

Two Revolucion de Cuba sites in Sheffield and Southampton and the Playhouse in Newcastle-under-Lyme are also set to close.

The company is now working to try and redeploy staff from these sites.

After the closure Revolution will operate 22 pubs and 58 bars.