Loungers hits 250th site landmark

The all-day café and restaurant group will open Pionero Lounge in Rochdale today, following new openings in Cramlington, Penrith, Paignton, Caerphilly, and Ashby-de-la-Zouch since Loungers’ interim results on 28 November 2023.

Further openings scheduled in the coming months include Lounges in Bromsgrove, Chepstow, Westwood Cross, Macclesfield, Bracknell, Ilkley, Sidcup, and Yeovil, with sites range from new developments to former banks, retail outlets, and restaurants on the high street.

Loungers has reiterated its belief that there is scope for at least 600 Lounges across the UK, with the group on track to open 34 sites in the current financial year. This is in addition to the group’s Cosy Club and Brightside brands, which currently have 36 and three sites respectively.

With each new site, Loungers says it invests nearly £1m into the local high street and creates an average of 30 jobs. In 2023, the group created 1,000 new jobs in total. It expects to recruit the same number this year.

“The opening of our 250 site is a hugely satisfying landmark for a business that started in 2002 in Bristol with a single cafe-bar called The Lounge. 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,” says Alex Reilley, chairman and co-founder of Loungers.

“In many ways, it feels like we are only just getting started and there is so much more for us to go after. We’re on track to open 34 sites in the current financial year, which will be a record for us and will involve the creation of over 1,000 new jobs. In the longer term, we believe there is scope for over 600 Lounges alone across the UK.

“None of this would be possible without the extraordinary talent, hard work and dedication of our people, and I’d like to thank each and every one of them for their contribution to building the business that Loungers is today.”