Thai Leisure Group secures £10m for expansion
The group, which currently operates 11 restaurants and four cocktail bars across the north of England and Scotland, plans to open six sites this year and eight throughout 2016, with a focus on the street food-influenced Thaikhun format.
The first of these new openings will be in Oxford and Cambridge under the two-strong format, with further sites in Guildford and Nottingham in the pipeline.
TLG which started life in Leeds and has recently celebrated 10 years in the City is co-owned by Martin Stead and Kim Kaewraikhot, who is also chef director.
The business, which has reported like for like sales growth of 9 per cent over the last year, has a current turnover, annualised on existing sites of £27m and serves around 26,000 customers per week.
Stead said: “This is certainly an exciting time for Kim and I. Ten years ago we opened our first Chaophraya in Leeds, and here we are about to embark on the next stage of a thrilling journey. I feel we are well positioned in a market which is very buoyant. We have the right people in place and have now secured a significant investment from Santander, which places us in a strong position to be able to push forward with new openings."
Steve Harrison, growth capital director, Santander Corporate & Commercial, said it was the third round of funding the bank had provided for Thai Leisure Group.
He said: "The business is one of the fastest growing and exciting in the sector with huge potential for future growth and it is great to be able to support Martin, Kim and the team in the next stage of their journey in taking Thai Leisure and their brands nationwide."
