Whatever happens in the future, 2019 will always represent a significant milestone in Loungers’ history after the restaurant and bar group completed a £185m flotation on the London Stock Exchange.
Under the leadership of Nick Collins, the group has grown its turnover to £153m and expanded its estate at a rate of 25 sites a year.
Critical to delivering the sustained like-for-like sales growth has been its focus on evolving and developing the Lounge and Cosy Club brands and their customer proposition.
Neither brand is wedded to a particular cuisine and this year has seen continued evolution and innovation in its broad all-day menus.
The business has had a strong reputation for vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free dining since inception and it has built on those foundations to respond to changing consumer dynamics.
Loungers commenced its kitchen re-set programme during the year and to date it has completed work at more than 50 sites.
The objective of the re-set is to improve the efficiency of its kitchens and the working environment of its back-of-house teams.
The relatively modest capital investment at each site addresses kitchen lay-out and additional equipment, as well as the deployment of kitchen display screens which provide invaluable data in terms of ticket times, efficiency and guest experience.
Profile
Company: Loungers
Address: 15-16 Lower Park Row, Bristol, Avon, BS1 5BN
Tel: 0117 930 9971
Twitter: @theLOUNGERS
Website: www.thelounges.co.uk
Focus: Cafe-bars