Restaurant Group plans further expansion

Frankie and Benny’s owner Restaurant Group is set to speed up its expansion strategy, with plans to open nearly 50 new sites over the course of 2015.

The company intends to roll out more of its smaller brands, which include Mexican restaurant Chiquito and American diner Coast to Coast.

Frankie and Benny’s is by far the Restaurant Group’s biggest brand, with 251 outlets. Four were opened in the first-half and the dining chain aims to open up to 11 more by the end of the year.

The announcement came as Restaurant Group reported a 10pc rise in pre-tax profits in the first six months of the year, driven by a 2.5pc rise in like-for-like sales as well as income from newly-established restaurants.

The company has added 21 restaurants to its portfolio so far this year and aims to open up to 27 more by the end of the financial year in December.

Chief executive Danny Breithaupt said trading conditions had been tough, but the robust performance demonstrated Restaurant Group's resilience.

"The Restaurant Group has delivered another strong set of results, with good growth across all key performance measures and excellent progress on our strategy of increasing the pace of roll out in a more balanced way between our brands," he said.

“The strengthening UK economy, increasing wages and disposable incomes, combined with the secular trends driving ongoing expansion of the eating out market, give me great confidence that group is well set for continued strong growth this year and beyond."

Mr Breithaupt has previously said that Government plans to increase the national minimum wage would not hurt the group's performance, and he criticised other companies who have voiced objection to paying staff more.

Current trading remains strong, with like-for-like sales running 2pc ahead in the 34 weeks to 23 August.