Giggling Squid secures Bristol site for 11th restaurant
Thai restaurant group Giggling Squid is to open a new restaurant in Bristol - its 11th overall - as the company predicted sales growth of 93% this year, and a 123% rise in profits to £1.4m EBITDA.
The new site will be in the Clifton Village area of Bristol. Giggling Squid is expected to invest around £100,000 refurbishing the new Princess Victoria Street site, currently occupied by an 88-seat Strada restaurant.
The new Giggling Squid is scheduled to open after Christmas.
The company, which now employs 297 staff, has recently transferred its bank facilities from HSBC to Barclays, has created a £2m credit facility, which combined with investment from profits, will fund further expansion for the next seven openings.
"We were sad to leave HSBC after a successful 12-year relationship with them. They were the only high street lender in Brighton who would fund our initial business plan for a tapas restaurant way back in 2002 and since then they have been very supportive of our growth, especially at the key moment when we set up Giggling Squid in 2008 in the teeth of the economic hurricane. However, looking forwards we felt that the business would be better served by a change of lender so support future ambitious growth plans," explained Laurillard.
The move to HSBC will save Giggling Squid around 3% or £24,000 per year in interest payments. It will also remove personal the guarantees demanded by HSBC.
The group said it expected sales to double this year (in the 12 months to April 2015) and again next, as five of its existing sites broke trading records in August. Two of the existing 10 restaurants opened since August last year, while Hove is currently closed for repairs following flooding.
