19/08/2025 09:40:00
All day café, bar and restaurant operator Loungers has opened its 300th site, advises Restaurant Online. The company says that the launch of Antico Lounge in Alton, East Hampshire 'cements its position as one of the UK's fastest-growing hospitality operators.' Founded in Bristol in 2002 by friends Alex Reilley, Jake Bishop and Dave Reid, Loungers began with a single Lounge on North Street, Bristol. The all-day café/bar format grew quickly across the UK, and in 2010 sister brand Cosy Club launched with a focus on larger, more central venues and a more upscale feel. Loungers introduced its third brand, Brightside, in 2022 and opened the first roadside site near Exeter in February 2023. Loungers has opened 21 new Lounges so far this year. The company says that each Lounge contributes an average of nearly £1m investment to the local high street it serves and creates around 30 new jobs.
A further £14m in debt financing has been secured by the fast-growing Valiant Pub Company, the on-trade outfit co-founded by Gerry Carroll and Mark McGinty, reports Pub & Bar. The funding has been provided by Metro Bank, with the latest facility bringing its total funding to Valiant to £26m. "We currently own and operate around 90 community pubs across the UK and this funding will enable us to continue to invest in great pubs and great communities," says Jen Sloyan, CFO of Valiant. Valiant is backed by Njord Partners, which provides financial support to the group as well as operational and strategic expertise. With Njord's continued backing and debt capital, Valiant says it is well-positioned to grow rapidly in coming months.
The number of pubs in England and Wales, including those vacant and to let, has dropped to 38,780, new data has found. The figures, which cover to the end of June 2025, revealed pub numbers were down 209 in six months with 2,283 lost since 2020, according to global tax firm Ryan. A combination of slashing business rates relief, higher national insurance contributions, rising wage costs and packaging taxes are draining profits, Ryan warned. When looking at the different regions, the hardest hit area was the south east, losing 31 pubs between December 2024 and the end of June 2025. The West Midlands saw the next highest number of losses at 27, followed by the north west at 23. However, the area seeing the lowest number was the east at 13 while the north east saw 17 pubs vanish and south west 18, reports The Morning Advertiser.
Italian restaurant chain Gusto owed roughly £11.9m to creditors when it was acquired out of pre-pack administration last month, advises The Caterer. Seven of the group's 13 restaurants were sold to Cherry Equity Partners, the investment firm led by hospitality veterans Ed Standring and Jamie Barber, saving more than 300 jobs. The process also resulted in the closure of six Gusto restaurants and around 190 redundancies. The deal is the third acquisition by Cherry Equity Partners this year following the buyout of Latin American restaurant group Cabana in January and French-themed restaurant chain Bistrot Pierre in March. According to the administrators' report from Interpath Advisory, selected trade and assets of the Knutsford-based business were sold to Cherry Two and Cherry Equity Three for £2.53m.
McWin Capital Partners and TriSpan have partnered to secure a co-control majority investment in Flat Iron, says Restaurant Online. The deal will see Piper, the specialist investor that backed Flat Iron in 2017, exit the business with McWin and TriSpan teaming up through their respective McWin Funds and TriSpan Rising Stars Programme to 'support the company's growth ambitions' going forwards. Those ambitions include further openings in the UK as well as moves into international markets.
Beavertown launches UK's first hot-air-balloon-pub this Bank Holiday, writes National World.