Record sales for fast-growing Loungers
Cafe bar chain Loungers plans to open another 34 sites in its current financial year.
In the year to April 16, the operator opened a record 29 new sites and achieved record sales.
Loungers has all day cafe bars across the UK under the Lounge, Cosy Club and Brightside brands. It has Lounges in the Black Country, Shropshire and Staffordshire including Lupo in Wolverhampton.
Revenue for 2022-2023 was £283.5 million from £237.2m a year earlier.
Pre-tax profit however fell from £21.6m to £7.3m. It reflected the positive impact in the previous financial year of Covid-related Government support measures.
Loungers has identified potential for at least 600 Lounges across the UK and has launched a new roadside brand Brightside, with two sites now open and a third to follow in August.
Over the 12 weeks since the year end like-for-like sales have been up 5.7 per cent despite the impact of Easter timing .
New site openings continue to perform exceptionally well
Chief executive Nick Collins said: "I am delighted to be announcing another excellent set of results for Loungers. During the year we opened 29 new sites creating around 1,000 new jobs, launched an exciting new roadside dining brand and achieved industry leading like-for-like sales growth."
It was the seventh year in succession Loungers delivered industry leading growth and over that period the estate has grown from 44 sites to 232 .
"We are proud to be making a positive contribution to high streets and communities across the UK and there are hundreds more locations around the country for us to target.
"Based on our experience the UK consumer remains positive, inflationary pressures are diminishing and recruitment challenges have eased. As an example, a few weeks ago, we opened Ormo Lounge in the seaside town of Llandudno which achieved a record level of sales for any new Lounge opening in our 22-year history, reflecting the relevance of our offer and how well we trade by the coast.
"More broadly, we are excited about our ongoing roll-out programme and the opportunity to bring our culture and hospitality to around 34 new locations in the coming year, with many more to come beyond that."
