Inventive Leisure has seen a drop in pre-tax profits for the year to 30 June as a result of tough high street trading and fall in like for like sales.

Turnover for the period rose by 11 per cent to £41.7m – from £37.6m in 2003 – thanks to the opening of seven new Revolution bars, but pre-tax profits were down to £2.5m from £3.6m. Like for like sales fell by around 9 per cent.

A new strategy – including an operational restructure and a new Vodka Kitchen food offering – was introduced to improve competitiveness without blanket price reductions and began to make a positive impact towards the end of the period.

Chief executive Roy Ellis said: “It is well documented that the last year has been a tough one for high street bar operators in general. It is no surprise that, in this environment, Inventive Leisure’s trade has suffered.

“However, the initiatives that we implemented to counter the market conditions have shown positive results and we have improved out gross margins and the integrity of our brand.”

Inventive currently operates 42 sites, 37 of which trade as Revolution bars.