Loungers PLC (AIM:LGRS), the British cafe/bar/restaurant hybrid chain, has officially opened its 250th site named the Pionero Lounge in Rochdale, Greater Manchester.
The group’s total estate now comprises 211 Lounges, 36 Cosy Clubs and three Brightside roadside venues.
Loungers has emerged as a UK hospitality success story, despite the sector being pummelled by post-Covid financial stress, inflation, soaring utility rates and cautious customer spending.
Underlying profits rose 23% to £23.9 million in the first half of Loungers’ current financial year, as margins began edging closer to pre-Covid levels.
"The opening of our 250th site is a hugely satisfying landmark for a business that started in 2002 in Bristol with a single cafe-bar called The Lounge,” commented chairman and co-founder Alex Reilley.
“A lot has changed since then but our commitment to providing our customers with excellent food and drink all day, while doing everything that we can to make a positive impact on the local community, has never wavered.”
Reilley said the group is on track to open 34 more sites in the current financial year, a new record for the group.
Further openings scheduled in the coming months include Lounges in Bromsgrove, Chepstow, Westwood Cross, Macclesfield, Bracknell, Ilkley, Sidcup and Yeovil.