Cost controls see Paul limit losses amid difficult trading conditions

Bakery and café chain Paul limited its 2017 pre-tax losses to £709,387 with tighter cost controls and menu engineering.

The losses, revealed in documents filed with Companies House, compared to pre-tax profits of £36,814 in 2016 and came despite a 2.4% increase in like-for-like sales.

Total revenue in the year had also grown to £35.4m, compared to £32.3m the previous year.

The documents state: "This was a good performance when taking into consideration the significant external influences impacting the business. Most notable was the increase in the cost of sale due to the unfavourable fluctuation in the exchange rate, the further increase in minimum wage and the continuing increases in property costs - rates and rent."

The company detailed cost measures including menu engineering and closer ties with suppliers, which managed to limit the increase in cost of sales to 0.2%, despite a 40% increase in the cost of key ingredients.

A 0.7% increase in property costs and a payroll cost increase of 4.2% also hit the company coffers.

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