More than 170 jobs were lost at historic brewer and pub and hotel owner Daniel Thwaites during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic as its turnover slumped by £66m and it slid to a pre-tax loss.
The Lancashire-headquartered firm, which has an estate of more than 300 freehold properties comprising pubs, inns, hotels and spas as well as its craft brewery, has reported a turnover of £32.2m for the 12 months to March 31, 2021, down from £98.1m.
The company has also reported a pre-tax loss of £12.4m, compared to a profit of £3.6m during the previous financial year.
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The number of full-time employees fell from 840 to 759 in the year while the number of part-time workers decreased from 721 to 626.
Turnover for its pubs and inns division dropped from £52.8m to £19m with its EBITDA going from £18.1m to £5.4m.
For the hotels and spas arm, turnover went from £45.3m to £13.2m and its EBITDA fell to a loss of £1m, compared to a profit of £10m in the prior year.
Daniel Thwaites was founded in 1807 and is now headquartered in Mellor Brook having relocated from its Blackburn base a number of years ago.
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A statement signed off by the board said: "The financial results of the company, ravaged by Covid-19, are stark and there is no shying away from the reality that it has been an expensive year on many levels.
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"However, much of the impact of Covid-19 has been contained within this last financial year and we have acted quickly and decisively to ensure that the core of the business and its teams have been protected.
"When we have been able to open we have fought hard for every available pound of revenue, despite the difficulties brought by capacity constraints as a result of social distancing and the effect of work from home orders on the corporate hotel market."
Chairman Richard Bailey said: "The darkest days of the past year are now behind us and whilst the whole Covid-19 episode has been most unwelcome the company is emerging from closure, lockdowns and restrictions intact, with its pubs, inns and hotels ready to make the most of the situation as a wave of pent-up demand is released once our personal liberty is restored.
"Thwaites entered the Covid-19 pandemic in excellent shape, with well invested assets, a strong balance sheet and the businesses orientated to attractive parts of the market.
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"The company faced a year of accumulating losses, worrying uncertainty and immense challenge.
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"However, the decisive actions that we took to control our cost base and safeguard the financial strength of the business ensured that we reopened on the front foot and were able to welcome back our customers, new and old, help them to feel at ease and enjoy themselves once more.
"Whilst it would be too much to say that we are coming out of the past year stronger, we have minimised the financial scarring from being shut and have plenty of liquidity to get us back on our feet and consider how we re-establish the growth path that we had been on."
Mr Bailey added: "These results would have been significantly worse were it not for the financial support the Government and the Treasury have provided during the recent crisis."
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On the company's outlook, Mr Bailey said: "One of the consequences of the past year has been to raise the profile of the pub with Government and also with the general public, who have discovered that life without the pub is not as fun as it is when it is there.
"In the medium term this bodes well, as the role that the pub plays in socialising and as the glue holding together local communities has been highlighted.
"At all levels of Government there has been an awakening to the fact that community pubs are the biggest social outreach programme in the land, delivered by landlords and landladies free of charge.
"These precious assets need to be protected and nurtured and I have increasing confidence that the Government will support that."