Seafood Pub Company to demerge from Oakman

In a trading update, Oakman confirmed that the 10-strong Seafood Pub Company, which it acquired out of administration in March 2021​​, will move forward under the sole ownership and direction of Dermot King, Oakman’s former CEO.

Seafood Pub Company fell into administration in the summer of 2020​​ after failing to secure funding to help support it through the first Covid-19 lockdown.

Following the demerger, Oakman’s estate will comprise 33 operating sites with a further five in the pipeline.

As part of the trading update, Oakman also reported it has filed accounts for the financial year ending 2 July 2023.

Over the period, sales rose across the group by over 6% from £54.4m to £57.8m, and EBITDA was £1.8m.

Oakman also reports a strong end to the first half of financial year 2023/24 with sales over the Christmas trading period showing growth over the prior year. 

For the five weeks ending on December 31 2023, the core Oakman Inns business delivered sales of £7.7m representing an increase of 9.5% on the prior year and like-for-like growth of 4.5%.

In addition, the group says it has made significant progress with respect to cost reduction and profit delivery. 

“External trading conditions remain challenging. However, I am delighted with the way the whole team has come together to deliver significant profit recovery over the past six months,” says Peter Borg-Neal, Oakman's CEO and founder.

“The business is in great shape to meet the near-term challenges we face and to deliver significant growth in the medium-term.”