Loungers sees record like-for-like growth of 11% over Christmas

Loungers has reported a successful Christmas period with record like-for-like sales growth of 11%.

The 139-site strong group said the five weeks to 6 January saw total sales of £18.3m, 31% higher than the previous year.

Since the beginning of the financial year (23 April 2018), the group has opened 17 new Lounges and one Cosy Club with a further seven openings planned before 21 April 2019.

The company has said the pipeline for new openings remains strong and it envisages a further 25 new sites in 2019.

Nick Collins, chief executive of Loungers, said: "I am delighted to report another period of strong trading. Both Lounge and Cosy Club delivered impressive volume-led growth against strong comparatives last year, whilst maintaining a keen focus on price and margin. As in previous years, the vast majority of our sites were closed for both Christmas Day and Boxing Day, enabling our teams to spend time with their friends and families. Huge credit must go to our teams for their amazing hard work and commitment in delivering such a fantastic result. Christmas is a demanding time of year for the hospitality sector and their willingness and determination to provide great customer experiences in the communities in which we serve underlies our success.

"We are excited about the prospects for the business in 2019 and continue to see great opportunities to expand whilst maintaining our strict discipline around site economics and returns. We plan to deliver our roll-out ambition of 25 new sites per year, expanding into new regions and trading locations, bringing Loungers' unique hospitality, culture and experience to an increasingly broad customer base."

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