National bar and gastro pub operator The Revel Collective – with 62 sites nationwide, including Revolution and Revolución de Cuba venues in Scotland – has gone into administration.
The first act of the administrators was to complete two sale transactions for the business and assets of the group, securing the continuation of 20 of the Revolution, Revolución de Cuba and Founders & Co bars nationally, and 21 of Revel’s English Peach pub sites, protecting 1582 jobs in total.
However, 14 Revolution, six Revolución de Cuba and one Peach pub site did not form part of those transactions and those venues have all now been closed, impacting 591 employees.
In Scotland, that upheaval has seen the shutters come down on the longstanding Revolution bar on Glasgow’s Renfield St, and Aberdeen’s Revolución de Cuba bar.
However, Glasgow’s own Revolución de Cuba outpost and the Mitchell St Revolution bar, as well as Aberdeen’s Revolution bar, are reported to be staying open under new owners Neos Hospitality joining a portfolio of 19 English locations for its Barbara’s Bier Haus, Bonnie Rogues and Circuit bar brands.
At the start of this week, Revel had indicated that discussions with a buyer for its assets were ‘well advanced’, but announced its intention to enter into administration as it had become apparent that the deal under consideration would not leave anything for the group’s shareholders, placing the focus only on its creditors.
When the Revel business first went up for sale last autumn, it had cited ‘challenging economic conditions’ and, specifically, decisions taken by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in Labour’s first Budget after coming to power in 2024, including increased national insurance contributions for employers, the rise in the minimum wage, and increased duties on spirits.
The group was founded in 1991 as a small bar in Ashton-under-Lyne, Manchester, by friends Roy Ellis and Neil Macleod, both of whom left the business in 2013.
Revel is currently led by chief executive Rob Pitcher, while the 2024 restructure saw entrepreneur Luke Johnson come on board as non-executive chairman.
