Savor Group confirms new Britomart lease as holiday revenue steady

Savor Group has confirmed a new lease in Auckland's Britomart, a leisure and entertainment offering. Photo / File

Savor Group has confirmed a new lease at Auckland’s Britomart after speculation following the closure of popular restaurants MoVida and Bar Non Solo.

The group confirmed to shareholders it has entered into an agreement to lease a new site with landlords Cooper & Company in the Britomart precinct in early 2025.

Details of the new location are unknown, but the group did confirm it will be a new leisure and entertainment offering, expected to open later in 2025.

“Savor has been incentivised to enter into the new lease alongside the early exit of the current lease of the Seafarers Building, which was due to expire in November 2025,” the group said.

“While this means the closure of existing venues MoVida and Bar Non Solo, Savor has been fortunate to redeploy all affected employees across its other venues throughout Auckland and expects to leverage the existing asset base into the new site.”

The group also shared a summer trading update, declaring the season has demonstrated green shoots of recovery.

It reported at its annual shareholders meeting in September 2024 that group revenue was about 8% lower than year-to-date August 2024.

That figure has now narrowed to about 5% (YTD December).

Demonstrating the continued recovery of the market as a whole, group revenue for December was within 1% of the prior year.

The group said while it is optimistic the trend of recovery will continue through the last quarter of the financial year, it is unable to provide earnings guidance due to the uncertainty that remains through a number of market indicators.

Restaurant closures

Two of Auckland’s popular dining locations closed their doors over the New Year period.

Bar Non Solo and MoVida, located in Britomart’s Seafarer building, permanently closed as Savor Group chief executive Lucien Law confirmed the news.

Bar Non Solo had been a staple at the location for the past 13 years, located right on the Waitematā Harbour. MoVida was launched in the Seafarers building in late 2022, taking over from Ostro. It was a branch of chef Frank Camorra’s Melbourne restaurant serving Spanish food.

Law said the closures were due to it not reaching a new agreement on a long-term lease with the building’s landlord Cooper & Co.

“We started working with them six months ago and it became clear there wouldn’t be an opportunity for us for another big long-term lease, which is obviously what we need.”

Law said the location had helped the business grow tremendously since it first opened, and it was chef Josh Emett’s first restaurant in Auckland.

“At the end of the day, look, it’s been 13 years, that building’s done over $80 million of revenue for us, including Covid. It’s sort of past its peak, I guess you’d say. It’s definitely been fantastic.”

About 30 staff in the two restaurants had all been offered new jobs within Savor Group before the doors shut, ensuring the talent stayed within the industry, he said.

Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business and retail.