Loungers beats pre-pandemic sales as customers flock back and expansion picks up pace
Bar and restaurant group Loungers has beaten pre-pandemic sales as customers flocked back to its sites following the lifting of Covid restrictions earlier this year, the company has revealed.
Revenues hit £102m in the six months to October 3 with a pre-tax profit of £12.8m as bosses opened 12 new sites and aims to open a further 13 sites by April next year.
Nick Collins, chief executive of the 184-site business, told CityA.M. the firm was “really happy” with the level of Christmas bookings for its Cosy Club venues.
In regard to alarm over the Omicron variant, Collins said he hadn’t “seen any change in how customers are behaving.”
“It’s too early to tell,” if headlines have impacted consumer confidence, he said. “Looking at sales from yesterday, there is no indication in the way the business is currently trading of any impact.”
Vaccine passports
In July, the boss of the bar and restaurant group labelled the Government’s recent messaging around Covid-19 rules as “absolutely shambolic” and described Covid passports as “unworkable” for the hospitality sector.
Collins said over the summer that he “can’t imagine a scenario” where Covid certification would be necessary for his customers.
“I don’t think certification would be likely to applicable for us but I have to stress that it is completely unworkable for everyone in the sector.
“Not only that, it’s a massive violation of civil liberties. It shouldn’t be something we are talking about.”