A branch of the café-bar chain Lounge is expected to open in Ripon this autumn.
Loungers, which owns the Lounge and Cosy Club brands, is currently refurbishing the building on Market Place formerly occupied by NatWest.
It is next to Ripon Town Hall, and the planned opening in September is set to create 25 jobs.
Sophia Stancer, community coordinator for the Loungers group, told the Stray Ferret:
“Recruitment is an ongoing challenge within the hospitality industry.
“At present, we are aiming for September for opening. All our vacancies are, or will, be listed on the Lounge website.
“We’d love to encourage local people who know and love their community to apply – as community really is at the very heart of what we do.”
The Lounge will have a distinguished neighbour in Ripon Town Hall
Loungers was founded by friends Dave Reid, Alex Reilley and Jake Bishop, who wanted to create a neighbourhood café-bar that they would want to go into themselves.
The trio, all of whom had previous experience of working in the restaurant and bar trade, opened their first venture in Bristol in 2002.
They describe the Lounge brand as “a café/bar combining elements of a restaurant, British pub and coffee shop culture”.
Now the group has approximately 150 restaurants and cafés in England and Wales.
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The Loungers group was valued at £185million before its listing on the London Stock Exchange Alternative Investment Market, which lists smaller growing businesses.
The hospitality sector was hit hard by the coronavirus lockdown in March 2020 and all of the group’s restaurants were temporarily closed.
Loungers secured a £15million revolving credit facility from its banks, designed to assist the company during the covid-19 disruption.
