Burrito seller Tortilla Mexican Grill enjoys rebound in UK trade
Tortilla Mexican Grill's boss has hailed 'good progress' following a significant rebound in domestic like-for-like sales.
The fast food chain revealed its comparable UK revenues improved from a 6 per cent drop in March 2024 to 6 per cent growth by December.
They also expanded by 5.9 per cent in the first quarter of this year, outperforming the wider British restaurant sector by eight percentage points, and are up 6.2 per cent so far during the second quarter.
While Tortilla's total like-for-like revenues marginally fell, its overall turnover increased by 3.5 per cent to £68million.
The London-based firm said trading benefited from the addition of one UK company-owned site and a 'strong contribution' from its franchise sites, including those at travel hubs run by Upper Crust owner SSP.
Tortilla's trade further benefited from the takeover of Fresh Burritos, the largest fast-casual Mexican restaurant group in France and the second-biggest in Europe.
The £3.3million acquisition included 13 firm-owned leasehold restaurants operating across Paris and other big French cities, and 18 franchised locations.
Due to costs related to buying Fresh Burritos, Tortilla's annual net losses tripled to £3.3million, with a further impact from impairments on some UK stores.
Andy Naylor, chief executive of Tortilla, said: 'I am pleased to report good progress over the last 12 months towards our strategic goal of becoming a pan-European fast casual Mexican restaurant business.'
Tortilla has continued to open stores with its franchise partners despite the subdued economic backdrop, including at Victoria and Liverpool Street stations in London, as well as Dubai's Silicon Central Mall and Circle Mall.
It also launched a new central kitchen in Lille, which is three times the size of its UK facility, three months ago to help serve its venues at scale across France.
While complex planning approval processes have stymied the firm's store conversion efforts in France, Naylor told investors that most French Burritos outlets will be converted to Tortilla by the end of 2025.
Naylor replaced Richard Morris as Tortilla's boss in April 2024 after serving seven years as its chief financial officer.
Tortilla was founded in 2007 by the Californian Brandon Stephens after he became frustrated at the lack of places selling high-quality burritos and tacos in London.
Tortilla Mexican Grill shares were 1.2 per cent lower at 37.3p on late Wednesday afternoon and have contracted by around 28 per cent this year.
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