Hawthorn Leisure, which has an estate of 312 pubs, has announced a strong third year set of results, showing group EBITDA growth of 10.1%.

Following three separate acquisitions in 2014, and the creation of a new head office during 2015, the group has seen significant profit growth over three consecutive years.

This has been driven by a strategy focused on stabilising and improving the estate through investing in the right people, property and proposition, delivering against customer expectations.

Hawthorn LeisureDuring 2016, group EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization) increased by 10.1% to £9m, with outlet EBITDA growing by 8.4%.

Other notable milestones included the refinancing completed in September 2016 with a new Royal Bank of Scotland facility and, more recently, entering into new supply chain agreements with Marston’s and C&C Group. The group also acquired 11 additional pubs during 2016.

The strong momentum has continued into 2017, with the group achieving a 9.5% increase in like-for-like outlet EBITDA during the first half of 2017. By the end of the year, more than £13.5m will have been spent since acquisition on refurbishing and maintaining the pub estate.

Chief executive, Gerry Carroll, said: “After three years of trading, the business is now well established, with an infrastructure and teams in place to operate both tenanted and managed businesses.

“This is a strong set of results reflecting the hard work of the Hawthorn team during the year. The continued benefits of ongoing capital investment in our core estate, a focus on maintaining strong partner relationships, and the opportunistic disposal of non-core assets is evident in the strong like-for-like growth we have achieved in the period.

“We have a great culture in Hawthorn that is built on working collaboratively, being fast-paced and agile in our thinking. This energy has undoubtedly led to our success during 2016 and it’s pleasing to see a continued trend of strong like for like growth in the first half of 2017.”