Dishoom's profit falls to £4.2m despite record £159m sales
The Indian restaurant group's turnover rose 16% in the year to March 2026, but staff costs and one-off sale fees cut pre-tax profit by more than half.
Dishoom's UK turnover rose 16% to £159.4m in the year to March 2026, but pre-tax profit fell to £4.2m from £10.1m, as staff costs jumped to £68.6m and the company absorbed one-off costs from a private equity sale.
The accounts, filed with Companies House and reported by The Caterer on October 2, cover a year in which the Bombay-style restaurant group opened two new sites, including its first Permit Room hotel-restaurant in Notting Hill. Adjusted EBITDA rose to roughly £22m from £18.6m, a gap that points to exceptional items rather than weaker trading.
Staff costs outpace sales growth
Stable teams and consistent service matter more than chasing growth for its own sake.
Wages climbed from £51.8m to £68.6m as headcount grew from 1,990 to 2,173 employees. The increase outpaced the 16% rise in turnover, squeezing the margin between sales and pre-tax profit even as the top line hit a record.
Dishoom did not break out a total restaurant count in the filing, but the group now operates across London, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Oxford, alongside the new Notting Hill site. Romy Gill's Pem, which opened nearby in Westminster this year, has taken a similar bet on regional Indian cooking in the capital.
The company said it was focusing on consistent customer experience and retaining staff, citing more stable teams as a factor in absorbing the higher wage bill without cutting service levels.
The L Catterton sale left a mark
The profit fall also reflects what the filing describes as exceptional sell-side costs tied to L Catterton's investment in September 2025, when the US private equity firm bought a majority stake from Dishoom's founders. That kind of one-off advisory and transaction cost typically does not recur in the following year's accounts.
The deal was read in the City as a vote of confidence in Dishoom's expansion plans, including a first US restaurant slated to open later in 2026. A slower profit year during a change of ownership is common across UK hospitality, where chains like Mitchells & Butlers have faced similar wage and National Insurance increases since last year's budget.
The group's next test will be whether turnover growth can outpace labour costs once the one-off sale fees drop out of the accounts, and whether the Permit Room format travels beyond its first site.
