Loungers to open four more venues in “tenant-friendly environment” post lockdown

The group will open four new Lounge sites in Wolverhampton, Stourbridge, Welwyn Garden City and St Ives by 26 May and is looking to expand further in what it describes as a “tenant-friendly environment”.

Loungers has announced its lending banks have approved a 12-month extension to the incremental £15m revolving credit facility that was place in place in April 2020, which will strengthen its financial and liquidity position.

It says the most recent lockdown and the new lending has allowed it to build a pipeline of new openings and that it was cautiously optimistic about the near future.

“We expect to trade well once the estate is fully re-opened, particularly with our strong coastal presence as we look forward to a summer of staycationing. Planned new openings in Blackpool, Scarborough and Aberystwyth ahead of the summer holidays will reinforce this position,” says Nick Collins, Loungers chief executive.

“The most recent lockdown has given us a real opportunity to build a fantastic pipeline of new sites in what is undoubtedly a tenant-friendly environment.

“We will approach the coming months cautiously but are very keen to get back to opening 25 sites a year at the earliest opportunity with such excellent properties being presented to us, and we are grateful to Santander and Bank of Ireland for their continued support.”

The restaurant group is taking a phased approach to reopening this month, with 47 reopening in England on 12 April, for takeaway and some outside trading, and five in Wales on 26 April on the same basis.

It intends to reopen all its restaurants in England on 17 May – restrictions permitting - and the remainder of its Welsh venues later in May, once confirmation of reopening dates have been given by the Welsh government.