Ed's Easy Diner on track for 10 openings a year, as sales grow 58%
Ed's Easy Diner is on track to open 10 new sites in 2013, with plans to open 10 per year after that.
The news came as the fast-growing casual dining brand unveiled a 58% growth in sales to £9.4m for the year to 30 September 2012, up from £6m the year before. Like-for-like sales grew 10% over the period.
Group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) nearly doubled to £972,000 (up from £458,000 in 2011).
The company now has a total of 17 1950s-themed American diners, with seven inside London and 10 outside. It also has two Shake Stands in Birmingham and three Shakes ‘N' Dogs units in Bluewater, Selfridges in London, and an airstream caravan in Cheshire Oaks, as well as two franchised diners in shopping centres in Cape Town, South Africa.
Four additional sites have already been agreed for the business, including locations in Gloucester Quays and Meadowhall in Sheffield.
Stephen Greene, chairman of Ed's Easy Diner Holding said: "2012 has been a landmark year for Ed's in which the new management team has delivered profitable growth, increased customers 57% to one million, perfected the operational template and begun a phased roll out programme whilst launching innovative concepts based on the core brand as supporting trading units for different types of location. With no material bank debt, an increasingly strong covenant and a brand with impressive broad appeal, the Group now has the springboard to significantly accelerate its development."
The Ed's Easy Diner brand was 25 years old last year, following the opening of the first Ed's Easy Diner in Soho in 1987.
The current management team of the business is made up of chairman Stephen Greene and chief executive Andrew Guy, following the acquisition of the brand in 2009 when it had just three sites.
