Burger King’s UK business has landed a £60m financing deal with a pair of lenders as it progresses the opening of dozens of new restaurants despite headwinds facing Britain’s hospitality sector.

MEZIESBLOG understands that Burger King UK – which has a master franchise agreement with Restaurant Brands International (RBI), the American owner of the Burger King brand – will this week announce that like-for-like sales, overall revenue and underlying earnings all grew significantly last year.

People close to the company said it had struck an agreement with Metro Bank and OakNorth to lend it £30m each, with the £60m of additional debt being used to fund new restaurant openings and other growth-related initiatives.

Burger King UK, which comprises close to 600 restaurants and employs more than 12,000 people, has been owned by Bridgepoint, the private equity firm, since 2017.

Bridgepoint recently committed further funding of its own to the business, with inflationary pressures, including soaring employment costs, and a stuttering UK economy posing fresh headaches for bosses in sectors such as hospitality and retail.

In a statement provided in response to an enquiry from Sky News, Burger King UK chief executive Alasdair Murdoch said: “Despite a challenging global macroeconomic environment and significant sector cost pressures, we have grown revenue by 10% to £448.7m and delivered like-for-like sales growth of 6.8%, demonstrating the resilience of our brand and the quality of our offer in a competitive market.”

Mr Murdoch added that Bridgepoint had committed a further £30m of funding during the financial year, and confirmed the additional debt facility with Metro Bank and OakNorth.

“Together, this backing gives us the platform to execute our expansion plans with further conviction,” he said.

Like-for-like sales growth during the year was driven by the expansion of Burger King UK’s home delivery operation and improvements to in-store trading.

Mr Murdoch said the business had shown “continued cost discipline and operational efficiency despite significant industry-wide labour cost headwinds”.

“Statutory wage increases, including further increases in the National Minimum and National Living Wage, together with higher employer national insurance contributions following changes to rates and thresholds, materially increased employment costs last year,” Burger King UK said.

The business also signed a near-20-year master franchise agreement with Burger King Europe GmbH – a subsidiary of RBI – to extend its master franchise rights for Burger King to the Republic of Ireland for the first time.

It is expected to open more than 30 new sites this year, with roughly two-thirds of them company-owned.

“Looking ahead, we will continue to monitor the potential impact of geopolitical uncertainty on inflationary pressures and consumer confidence,” said Mr Murdoch.

“We continue to generate strong sales growth and, through disciplined cost control, are well-positioned to convert these sales profitably.”

Burger King UK’s results are expected to be published on Monday.

Rival chain Five Guys has been exploring a sale in recent months, even as hospitality industry leaders warn of a jobs bloodbath in the sector, with waves of closures and financial restructurings now in train.