Inception Group on course to exceed £30m turnover in 2025 after reporting ‘strong growth’

Duncan Stirling and Charlie Gilkes founded Inception Group in 2009
Duncan Stirling and Charlie Gilkes founded Inception Group in 2009 (©Inception Group)

Inception Group has reported ‘strong growth despite challenging market conditions’ in its 2024 financial results, with forecasts for 2025 suggesting it will exceed £30m turnover for the first time. 

The London-based immersive bar operator, whose brands include the Mr Fogg’s collection, Cahoots and Control Room B, reported total group revenue of £28.9m in 2024, a 9.4% increase on the £26.5m it made in 2023, with like-for-like growth of 6.4%.

Total group EBITDA for the year, which excludes pre-opening costs and exceptional costs or profits, rose 3.4% to £3.1m (2023: £3m).

The results fail to include information on whether the group made a profit or loss for the year, but co-founder Charlie Gilkes does note that margins ‘came under pressure in 2024 due to a multitude of cost inflation’.

Over the period the group added one site to its estate, bringing its portfolio to 15 sites at the year’s end.

“2024 saw strong like-for-like revenue growth and in October of last year we opened our second Cahoots location in Borough Yards, which continues to trade beyond expectations,” says Gilkes.

Last month, Inception Group opened Bunga 90, which it describes as ‘a completely reimagined concept centred around the 1990s’, on the former Bunga Bunga site on Drury Lane.

“Total group revenue will exceed £30m for the first time in 2025 and margins have started to improve,” Gilkes continues.

“In September of this year Bunga Bunga relaunched as ‘Bunga 90’, a completely reimagined concept with incredibly promising early signs.

“We will shortly be announcing some exciting pipeline sites for 2026.”