Mission Mars reports strong Christmas trading

The group, which operates the Rudy’s Pizza and Albert’s Schloss brands, says total revenue was £16m for the 13-week period from 03 October 2022 to 01 January 2023, boosted by the opening of six pizzerias and one Albert’s Schloss.

For the Christmas period of 28 November 2022 to 1 January 2023, group like-for-like sales for were up 26% against the same five-week period in the previous year. This growth was driven by record sales across both brands of the business, it says.

Overall, Rudy’s revenue grew by 86% in the Christmas period, driven by organic growth and new venues. The nine pizzerias delivered 37% like-for like revenue growth.

The group’s three Albert’s Schloss venues saw revenue grow to £4.3m for the same five-week period, an increase of 104% on the previous year, with Albert’s Schloss Manchester delivering like-for-like growth of 29%.

Its latest Albert’s Schloss, which opened in Liverpool at the end of November, has traded well, it says.

Strong festive trading

“I am delighted with the quarter’s trade, in particular the festive period performance,” says CEO Roy Ellis.

“The Group is spending a significant amount of time monitoring and analysing the externals pressure the sector is facing. We have been delighted to reduce our colleague turnover levels to the lowest levels we have seen and are determined to drive down further through continued investment in our training, development and team engagement.

“Strong trading across all venues for a sustained period of time provides us with confidence that the Albert’s Schloss brand and Rudy’s Pizza Napoletana brand are well set to continue to deliver growth and are likely to trade extremely well in all parts of the UK.”

The company plans to open at least four new Rudy’s and one Albert’s Schloss, which is currently in legals, in 2023