The Alchemist Bar & Restaurant has outlined its response to the Covid-19 pandemic over the last year including securing additional equity funding from its shareholders in recent weeks.
The company, which is headquartered in Handforth, Cheshire, has revealed how it coped with successive lockdowns in England and Wales since March 2020 in newly filed documents with Companies House.
Its response included restructuring its balance sheet and bank facilities as well as signing new contracts to pay deferred rent to landlords.
The company, which has venues in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Cheltenham, Newcastle, Leeds, Portsmouth, Nottingham, Salford, Cardiff and Oxford, has also revealed its financial results for the year to March 31, 2020.
The documents filed with Companies House show its parent, Buttercup Topco, achieved a turnover of £45.8m, up from £41m, while its pre-tax losses widened from £205,372 to £1.6m.
The brand itself reported the same turnover figures, with it posting losses of £233,274 after profits of £923,069 in the prior year.
A statement signed off by the board said: "Since the year end the company has been significantly impacted by government policy imposed due to the spread of Covid-19 across the 海角视频.
"The national lockdowns starting in March 2020 led to all venues being closed across the country, which had a significant impact on trading towards the end of the financial year and in to the next.
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"As a direct result of these lockdown closures, and in common with many hospitality businesses, the banking covenants of the company were not met at 30 June 2020, 30 September 2020 and 31 December 2020, but as the company's bank waived compliance with the missed covenant tests there was no event of default.
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"On 31 January 2021, a balance sheet restructure was carried out which reduced the company's debt.
"Further to that, on 24 March 2021, the company's bank facilities were restructured, which included a reschedule of repayment terms and the agreement of revised covenants.
"Additional equity funding was also raised from shareholders on that date to further improve liquidity and provide additional cash headroom.
"The company has signed binding agreements with landlords for the payment of deferred rent and agreed a repayment plan with HMRC in respect of deferred VAT and payroll taxes.
"The company forecasts improved trading from June 2021 when venues are expected to be allowed to re-open, which is anticipated to enable compliance with all repayment agreements and new bank covenants in future periods."