Loungers lines up second York venue
The fast-expanding café-bar group has set the wheels in motion on a unit close to the LNER Community Stadium.
Plans filed with City of York Council show Bristol-headquartered Loungers registering its intention to install signage at the Restaurant 3 unit on Kathryn Avenue.
The chosen area in Huntington is a busy one, with visitors to Vangarde and Monks Cross retail parks joined by those attending York City FC and York Knights rugby league games at the stadium, along with those accessing the stadium’s community facilities.
A statement issued to Place Yorkshire by Loungers said: “We’ve are in advanced negotiations on a site in York Vangarde Shopping Park – it’s a great area and we are hopeful to join the local community by opening a Lounge and creating between 30-40 new jobs.
“Nothing is totally confirmed as yet, however, for every Lounge we open, it’s important to us that we give back to the community – we partner with local charities to raise funds, our spaces are used for meetings of local groups and businesses, and we encourage customers to use us as a community hub. We hope to have more info on the site in York, soon.”
Loungers is the group behind Cosy Club and Brightside brands as well as more than 200 Lounge-suffixed venues across the country.
Backed by private equity group Lion and now listed on the Alternative Investment Market, Loungers reported group revenue of £237m in 2022.
The Lounge sites have mushroomed from secondary suburban high streets to a wider range of settings, including the White Rose and Thorpe Park commercial parks near Leeds, along with more typical café-bars in the likes of Selby, Hull, Ripon, Northallerton and Scarborough.
The group is already represented in York city centre, through the Cosy Club on Fossgate.
In December, group executive chairman and co-founder Alex Reilley told Place of the group’s ambitions to continue growth in the northern regions, plugging obvious gaps in key cities.
Loungers is also now seeking to grow its start-up brand Brightside, which is looking to re-establish sit-in roadside dining in the UK.
- Read Place North’s Q&A with Loungers executive chairman Alex Reilley
