Record annual sales for Loungers
Cafe bar group Loungers enjoyed record sales of £237.3 million for the year to April 17.
Loungers operates164 Lounge cafe bars, including in Kiddermninster, Lichfield, Shrewsbury, Stafford, Stourbridge, Sutton Coldfield, and Wolverhampton, and 31 Cosy Club restaurant bars.
Trading during December was subdued as a result of the Omicron variant, but recovered strongly post-Christmas.
The group expects profitability for the financial year to be slightly ahead of market expectations.
Over the course of the financial year the group opened a record 27 new sites – 26 Lounges and one Cosy Club – taking the portfolio to 195 sites.
Chief executive Nick Collins said: "I am delighted with trading in both the Lounge and Cosy Club brands over the financial year. We continued to deliver underlying, volume driven like for like sales growth despite the uncertain consumer backdrop and we are well-positioned to increase share in the coming months through our new site opening programme and value for money offer.
"It has been a phenomenal effort from our team to open 27 fantastic new sites in what has at times been a difficult year. The new site pipeline is in excellent shape and we are optimistic as we look ahead to 2022-2023."
