Giggling Squid Creates 20 New Jobs With Sevenoaks Opening
Group to double in size in 12 months and generate 250 jobs
Giggling
Squid, the fast growing restaurant chain which introduced the ‘Thai Tapas’
concept to Britain, is to open in Sevenoaks, Kent on 5th August, creating 20
new jobs. The new 100-seater,
split-level restaurant, which Giggling Squid has refurbished at a cost of
£250,000, is located in a former church on Dorset Street, on the site formerly
occupied by Strada restaurant. The
latest addition takes the group into double figures. The Sevenoaks launch will
be followed by another in Maidstone during the autumn.
In the past
few weeks, builders refurbishing the restaurant have been constantly bemused by
a regular stream of passers by wandering in to a scene of devastation and
organised chaos to ask, “Are you open yet?”
“Our
Tunbridge Wells branch has many regulars who travel down from Sevenoaks and
they’ve been pleading with us to open in the town for some time,” said Giggling
Squid MD Andrew Laurillard.
The company
is also set to exchange contracts on two further properties in the next few
weeks. It is in advanced negotiations on
several additional sites across southern England and expects to open at least 8
more openings in the coming 12 months.
Giggling
Squid currently operates successful venues in Brighton, Hove, Crawley,
Tunbridge Wells, Henley-on-Thames, Reigate, Stratford-upon-Avon, Marlow and
Horsham. Its most recent opening,
Horsham, has weekly sales averaging between £25,000 and £30,000.
Co owned with
Andy’s wife Pranee Laurillard (the brand is derived from the nickname of one of
their three children), Giggling Squid’s formula of serving “rustic” Thai
cuisine, with the emphasis on sea- and street-food, is a winning one. Fans compliment the restaurants for having
the “feel” of a one-off independent, rather than a mass “produced” corporate
chain.
Meals are
freshly prepared in the kitchen from scratch, and its healthy tapas menu, had
proved universally popular, especially at lunchtime with office workers, “yummy
mummies and “ladies who lunch.”
Since opening
the first Giggling Squid in 2009, the pair deliberately set out to look and
cook different – using drift wood and reclaimed timbers, to create a modern
chic environment.
The lunch
menu offers a choice of six Tapas-style ‘tasting sets' that allow diners to
sample several of different dishes in at a single sitting, costing between
£8.00 and £10.50 with 16 individual dishes priced under £4.00. “Big” dishes with rice cost £6.50 to
£7.95. “Combi” meals with starters are priced
between £6.00 and £7.25.
The evening
menu is more extensive with over 50 dishes available. The ever popular Thai Green Chicken Curry is
£8.95.
“It’s all
down to the food,” says Pranee commenting on what makes the restaurants a
success, whose expansion has come against a back drop of one of the longest
economic down turns in recent history.
Employing the
right staff is key. Pranee, a masters business graduate, who runs the
operations side of the company now knows most of the UK’s Thai chefs. She has an extensive database of good staff -
all eager to join the organisation.
The company
says it is able to recruit high calibre staff because it treats people well and
pays them above the industry norm.
“We offer a
professional management structure, invest heavily in training and can offer a
real prospect of rapid career development as the group expands,” said Pranee.
Giggling
Squid, 3c Dorset Street, Sevenoaks, KentTN13 1LL
T: 01732
465898
Tw:
@GigglingSquid
For recipes follow this link
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