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11
Jul
Owners of Ripon's Claro Lounge report record financial year
Café-bar chain Loungers plc, which operates the Claro Lounge on Market Place South in Ripon, has reported record results for the financial year.
The company, which owns the Loungers, Cosy Club and Brightside brands, saw a 24.7 per cent rise in revenue for the 53 weeks to April 21 to £353.4 million.
The pre-tax profit figure was up 56 per cent at £11.4m for the group, which opened the Claro Lounge in September 2021 at a prime location next to Ripon Town Hall.
UK-wide Loungers opened a record 36 new sites during the financial year – seven sites more than 2022-2023.
However, Cosy Club in Harrogate closed in April this year after just 19 months.
Chief executive Nick Collins said the results "demonstrated the hospitality sector is capable of making a really positive economic and social impact on parts of the country that are otherwise all-too-often overlooked".
He added:
The variety, breadth and flexibility of our all-day offer is proving to be more relevant than ever.
To encourage further investment, I would strongly urge the new government to address the wildly unfair tax burden that is shouldered by our industry in the form of a business rates system that urgently needs to be overhauled.
The improving macroeconomic environment, with falling interest rates and declining inflation, adds to our confidence in Loungers' trading prospects for the coming year. In the longer term, we continue to believe that 665 sites is a conservative target.
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