Ivy Collection sales grow to £348m as profit nearly doubles
Ivy Collection sales reached £348m at Troia UK Restaurants, chaired by Richard Caring, with pre-tax profit nearly doubling to £40m even as staffing costs rose across the industry.
Troia UK Restaurants, the company behind the Ivy Collection, grew sales to £348.0m in the 52 weeks to 4 January 2026, up 5.6% on the year before, with pre-tax profit nearly doubling to £40.0m.
Adjusted EBITDA rose 6.5% to £65.9m from £61.9m, filings show. Gross margin improved to 80% from 79%, and labour costs fell as a share of sales to 38% from 40%, even as the business absorbed higher National Insurance contributions and a higher minimum wage, both industry-wide cost increases this year.
The company said the margin gain came from "managing staffing levels without compromising service" rather than cutting headcount outright. Troia opened new sites and completed refurbishments across the Ivy brand during the period, without naming the additions.
Labour margins improved by managing staffing levels without compromising service.
A deal waiting in the wings
The results cover the period before a separate development: a post-period agreement to sell a controlling interest in Troia to DIAFA, an Abu Dhabi-based investor. Banking facilities were strengthened alongside it, with a revolving credit facility expanded to £50m and total available funding reaching £325m.
Richard Caring built the Ivy Collection from the single Covent Garden restaurant into a chain spanning brasseries, Asian-fusion sites and private members' clubs, keeping the Ivy name on everything from grand cafés to smaller neighbourhood rooms.
A mixed year for UK dining groups
The numbers land in a reporting season that has split UK hospitality groups between growth and strain. Dishoom posted record turnover of £159.4m but saw profit fall to £4.2m this week, citing costs tied to its own investment round, while JD Wetherspoon reported a 28% profit drop despite £2.2bn in sales.
Against that backdrop, Troia's combination of rising sales, wider margins and a pending ownership change sets it apart from peers absorbing the same cost pressures without the same cushion. The DIAFA deal, once completed, will hand a Gulf investor a stake in one of London's best-known restaurant names, echoing a wider pattern of Middle Eastern capital moving into UK hospitality this year.
