Loungers opens 19th site following fresh funding

Santo Lounge in Southampton’s Shirley district was originally acquired by Loungers three years ago for around £300k, and is the group’s second site in the city and 17th under the Lounge café/ bar brand.

Alex Reilley, managing director of Loungers, said the launch of the site, which is on a secondary high street, was delayed due to on-going building work.

“It’s great to finally have it open, particularly as the first week of trading has been very strong,” he said.

The opening comes as Loungers announced a fresh £1m of funding secured after switching banks from RBS to Santander.

The move will see the group’s existing £1.3m debt refinanced with the addition of £200k headroom and a further £800k revolving facility.

Reilley added that the move was down to ‘a lack of consistency and too much uncertainty from RBS compared to a genuine appetite to support the growth of the business from Santander’.

"With the £800k facility from Santander in place we can now develop out our pipeline of sites at pace and push ahead with our goal of having 32 sites by mid-2013,” he said.

Loungers’ 20th site, a Cosy Club in Stamford, Lincolnshire, will be the third site under the Cosy brand when it opens in late October.

The group also intends to open additional Cosy Club sites in Exeter, Cardiff and Salisbury, with four additional Lounges lined up for Bournemouth (two sites), Birmingham and Hove.