Hickory's Smokehouse surged into the black in the year before being acquired by pub giant Greene King, it has been revealed.
The Chester-headquartered also created nearly 300 jobs during its latest financial year, according to newly-filed accounts.
In the year to April 2022, the company's turnover surged from £19.4m to £50.8m while it made a pre-tax profit of £5.4m after falling to a loss of £458,987 in the prior year.
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The business also increased its headcount from 896 to 1,188 during the 12 months.
In the last year before the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the 12 months to April 30, 2019, the company's turnover totalled £29.5m and it made a pre-tax loss of £509,953. The number of people it employed also totalled 663.
The profit made by Hickory's Smokehouse is the first since it was backed by Piper.
The accounts come after Hickory's Smokehouse was bought by Greene King towards the end of 2022.
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The deal provided an exit for private equity firm Piper, which had backed the company since 2014.
A statement signed off by the board said: "The directors are satisfied with the results for the year. The results for the year reflect a very strong post-Covid performance which has continued beyond the year end.
"On a like-for-like basis, the business is consistently over 30% higher than its pre-Covid levels.
"In the early part of the financial year the group and company made use of the government's Job Retention Scheme to protect those team members who were impacted by the continued restrictions required by Covid-19.
"The group benefitted in the year from interest paid by HMG under the EBILs scheme.
"The group has repaired its balance sheet from the damage done by the lockdowns and at year end has net bank debt of just £1.5m.
"The group continues to generate cash to further fund the expansion of the business.
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"The company and the group remain well placed to grow the estate even further as the group actively seeks ne locations for Hickory's Smokehouse."
In the prior financial year, the company's net debt stood at £5.7m.
Hickory's Smokehouse was founded in Chester by Neil McDonnell in 2010 and has locations in Burton Green, Castle Bromwich, Chester, Gresty Green, Horbury, Hutton, Nuthall, Poynton, Rhos-on-Sea, Shrewsbury, Southport, Wall Heath, West Kirby, Wilmslow and Worcester.
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