The group, which serves over 10,000 diners per week across 13 sites in the UK and Ireland, recorded turnover of £30.8 million for the year to June 2022, versus £18.1m for the prior 15-month period to June 2021.

Operating profits from continuing operations jumped to £4.4m to June 2022, against a loss of £600k in the pandemic-hit 15 months to June 2021. EBITDA from continuing operations was £5.0m, compared to a loss of £0.1m in the 15 months ended June 2021.

The group and its staff also raised over £300,000 for Sixco’s charity partner, Beatson Cancer Charity during this period, largely through the Beat6 not-for-profit restaurant in Glasgow.

During the 12 months to June 2022, the company invested £3.9m, opening new Six by Nico sites in Canary Wharf (August 2021), Dublin (November 2021) and Aberdeen (April 2022), and Tan&ns (September 2021), a wine importer that supplies all the group’s ‘wet’ requirements.

An £11.5m funding facility was also agreed with challenger bank ThinCats to support Sixco’s ambitious expansion strategy.

Having emerged from the pandemic in a stronger position than much of the sector, CEO and founder Nico Simeone revealed the group will deliver a significant expansion in the next 12 months, with four new UK Six by Nico openings, as well as new bar and bakery ventures in Q1 and Q2 2023.

In addition, the group is drawing up plans for international expansion, with potential for a new venture in Dubai towards the end of 2023.

Mr Simeone said: “While Covid was a huge challenge, we’ve bounced back very strongly, thanks to our amazingly loyal customer base who stayed with us through the lockdowns and have returned to our restaurants in phenomenal numbers.

“That’s down to our dedicated and hard-working team who have been absolutely brilliant - delivering consistent creativity and fun experiences day-in, day-out.”

Sixco Group chairman, Rob Wirszycz said: “Nico’s genius in coming up with the concept of fixed-price, six-course tasting menus that change every six weeks has struck a resounding chord with the dining public.

“Crucially, thanks to our core strategy of building customer loyalty, we emerged strongly from the pandemic and now have a fast-expanding database of more than 550,000 engaged and active customers, all literally hungry for the experiences we deliver.

“Our headcount has expanded to over 500 colleagues, despite the well-known challenges the industry has faced in recruitment and retention, and our employee benefits are highly competitive.

“The plans we have developed to extend our network and broaden our offering in the UK and overseas are enormously exciting. We’ve done our homework and are confident we’ll continue to deliver on our ethos of bringing incredible value for money and great food and drink experiences, that we believe gives us a level of resilience at a tough time for the sector more generally.”

Mr Simeone concluded: “At our core we are creative, agile and driven to deliver for our customers and 2023 promises to be our most exciting year.

“We’re really confident that, despite the economic headwinds, our high-value and high-experience restaurants will continue to excite our customers into the new year and beyond.”