Record openings lead to record revenue at Tortilla

Fast-casual Mexican restaurant group Tortilla has reported record revenue for the year to 1 January 2023, driven by a record number of new sites.

In its latest financial results, the group has reported revenue for the period increased by 20% to a new record of £57.7m. Like-for-like revenue was up 16.4% on 2019.

The year saw net growth of 18 sites, taking it to a total of 82 sites at the end of the year. This included 10 group-operated sites, one new franchise site at Bristol airport in partnership with SSP Group, and five openings at universities through its new partnership with Compass Group.

Meanwhile, the group’s acquisition of Chilango in May 2022 strengthened its position in London, with five of the eight sites converted to Tortillas and the three remaining sites refurbished post-acquisition.

Tortilla also reported adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £4m, compared to £8.7m the previous year, which included £3.9m of VAT benefit.

For the current year, Tortilla said trading was in line with expectations, with like-for-like sales growth for the eight weeks to 26 February 2023 up 4% on 2022.

Although increasing costs continue to hit the hospitality industry, the group said utilities hedging to September provided the business with some certainty for the majority of this year, while food cost inflation rates had “largely plateaued”.

Meanwhile, new sites opened in the first quarter of 2023 in Derby and London Greenwich have seen “encouraging early trading”, with further openings planned for Milton Keynes, Belfast and Bracknell, putting the group ahead of schedule for its target of 45 new sites in five years.

The group also said it was exploring several new franchise sites for 2023, including through its partnership with Compass and further planned openings at rail stations with SSP.

Richard Morris, chief executive of Tortilla, said: “We have a proven, great value and highly popular customer proposition and these strengths continued to underpin our good levels of like-for-like growth and further strategic expansion during 2022.”

He added: “We know that restaurants that offer great, consistent food at competitive price points will always be the winners in our sector, and we are confident we sit very comfortably in this space. We remain highly motivated and excited about Tortilla’s continued growth potential in the UK as well as our opportunities to build on our proven franchise operations to expand overseas.”

The company also announced that senior independent director Laurence Keen would not seek re-election at the AGM in May, having taken on the role of leading the expansion of Hollywood Bowl Group in Canada. Francesca Tirtiello, who joined the board as a non-executive director in September 2022, will take over as chair of audit.

Emma Woods, chair of Tortilla, said: “The board is very grateful to Laurence for his expertise and support since the group’s IPO in 2021, and we wish him all the best for the future. We have begun recruitment for a new non-executive director who will chair the remuneration committee, and look forward to updating shareholders when an appointment has been made.”

Tortilla was founded in 2007 by Brandon Stephens, originally from California, who arrived in London in 2003 and saw a gap in the market for burritos and tacos.