Revel Collective Administrators Report on £16.5m Bars and Pubs Break-Up

Revolution Bars built its name on cocktails and late nights, launching in 1996 and growing into one of the UK's best-known premium bar operators. Along the way it added Revolución de Cuba to the portfolio, then in 2022 made its boldest move yet: buying Peach Pubs, a gastro pub group, for £16.5 million, part-funded by a facility from NatWest. It was a bet that broadening into food-led pubs would diversify the business and smooth out the volatility of a bar-only estate. By the time it entered administration, the group operated 40 bars and 22 pubs and employed over two thousand people.

The bet never really paid off. The pandemic had already forced a CVA in 2020 that closed six sites and reset rents at others. Then came the slow grind that has hit hospitality across the board: inflation, energy costs, and customers going out less. By 2024, forecast losses were severe enough that the company sought a court-approved restructuring plan, closing another 18 loss-making sites, writing off millions in secured debt, and bringing in fresh equity to buy time. The plan generated roughly £2 million of EBITDA in FY2025.

It wasn't enough to hold. Rising employer National Insurance contributions and a higher National Living Wage hit the business hard through 2025, eating into the margin the restructuring had bought back. By late in the year, the board brought in FTI Consulting to review the group's options. FTI ran a sale process that drew multiple bids for both the bars and pubs businesses, but no proposal emerged that could rescue the group as a going concern. Insolvency followed.

The sale was pre-packaged. The moment administrators were appointed in January, the business was split in two and sold immediately: one buyer took 20 of the 40 bars, another took 21 of the 22 pubs. In total, 1,566 employees transferred under TUPE to the new owners. The remaining sites, plus the head office and a warehouse, didn't make the cut, and 591 staff were made redundant that same day.

Since then, the administrators have spent six months on the work of closing an estate this size: reconciling bank accounts, handling a wave of customer refund claims, chasing outstanding debts, and negotiating with landlords over the leases that weren't part of either sale. Pension contributions that went unpaid before the collapse are still being resolved with the schemes involved.

NatWest, the only secured lender, is expected to recover roughly half of what it's owed. HMRC, ranking as a secondary preferential creditor for its combined VAT, PAYE and employee NIC claims, is expected to recover less than 20 percent. Ordinary trade creditors are expected to get nothing.

What's left is administrative tidying up: finishing the lease assignments to the new owners, closing out tax filings, and eventually bringing the companies to a formal end. The administrators hope to complete this within the statutory 12-month window but note that an extension may be required, with a further update due to creditors in early 2027.