The company behind the likes of Albert's Schloss and Rudy's Pizza in Manchester has revealed how partnering with Deliveroo and selling a number of landmark venues in the city helped it through the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mission Mars, which also owns Trof NQ, Albert's Schenke and Albert Hall in Manchester, has revealed the impact of Coronavirus on its finances in newly-filed accounts with Companies House for the 12 months to September 27, 2020.
The documents show the company completed the sale of The Deaf Institute and Gorilla towards the end of last year for £40,000 and £60,000 respectively, resulting in a combined loss of £600,000. It also disposed of the Flying Pig and Lobster pubs.
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The directors have also detailed how partnering its Rudy's Pizza brand with Deliveroo helped generate vital revenue during the periods of lockdown.
The accounts for September 27, 2020, show that the company's turnover fell from £34m to £21.5m while its pre-tax losses grew from £1m to £1.7m.
The company has also revealed that its trade during its most recent financial year had been "particularly encouraging" since restrictions were lifted on July 19, 2021.
Albert's Schloss in Manchester delivered a revenue of £1.8m, a like-for-like increase of 13.1% compared to the same period in 2019.
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Rudy's Group had also achieved a revenue of £8.1m by the end of September this year, up from £5.1m.
A statement signed off by the board said: "FY20 H1 continued to deliver strong financial performance with growth in key areas of the business resulting in record site revenues and group EBITDA.
"FY20 H2 has been a challenging period for any operator in the hospitality sector following the impact of Covid-19.
"Notwithstanding this, Mission Mars has continued to progress with opportunities and has achieved success in certain areas of the business.
"Covid-19 restrictions allowed us to fast track our strategy for delivered Rudy's Pizza and we have been pleased with the demand across all sites.
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"Partnering with Deliveroo, we have realised an additional revenue stream which has proven profitable throughout lockdown and subsequently a great route to improving efficiency and EBITDA conversion when trading with guest in site throughout July to September.
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"FY20 saw a decline in revenue fully driven by the impact of Covid-19 and disposal of sites. Pre the impact of these two events, the group revenue performance was pleasing.
"When allowed to trade restriction free or with only social distancing in place, all site openings from FY19 and FY20 have performed in line with or ahead of expectation.
"The directors remain optimistic for the future period of trade, despite the risks and uncertainties referred to in the directors report."