MPs, lobbyists and journalists have marked February 14 in their diaries, not for romantic reasons but for the re-opening of the Red Lion pub in Westminster.
The pub, which was bought by Fuller, Smith & Turner four years ago, has undergone a major refurbishment since it shut shortly after New Year. Fuller’s chief executive Simon Emeny said: “It’s a Grade 2-listed building which trades on three floors and we have been very sympathetic with what we have. Most of the changes are behind the scenes.”
Fuller’s had a strong Christmas with like-for-like sales up 7.2% in the past 10 weeks taking growth for the 43 weeks of its financial year so far to 7.7%.
Larger rival Mitchells & Butlers had an equally good Christmas, serving almost 200,000 dinners on the day. Over the three festive weeks sales rose by 2.6%. For the first 17 weeks of its financial year like-for-like sales are up 2%, which chief executive Alistair Darby called: “A steady improvement rather than a great leap forward.”
