Bath For Giggling Squid Thai Restaurant: Eight More Sites In Pipeline
Within four
weeks of opening in Bristol, Giggling Squid, the high growth family of Thai
restaurants, has completed on a new site in Bath. The latest acquisition takes
the group's portfolio to 13 sites. The company which introduced the “Thai
Tapas” dining concept to the UK in 2009, Giggling Squid, is on a quest to have
the UK's first nationwide string of 70 restaurants within 7 years.
Giggling Squid
is also in advanced legal negotiations to acquire 8 more sites – five in the
Home Counties, one in Essex, one in East Anglia and another in the Midlands.
Following the
successful launch of new restaurants in Salisbury and Bristol in March, the
company, led by husband-and-wife team Andrew and Pranee Laurillard, is now
hitting an impressive EBITDA run rate of around £2m.
The Bath site,
located in Bluecote House in Saw Close opposite the Theatre Royal, is a
converted school house and is currently operated by the Cleaver Chimichanga
chicken, ribs and burger national chain. It will reopen as Giggling Squid with
approximately 200 covers, once major works to the square in front of the
theatre are finished in 2016. The
development will form what promises to be a highly prized public outside area
in the centre of the city. New operators to be included will be a Zizzi, Byron,
a smart new hotel and, it is understood, a super casino. Giggling Squid will invest about £200,000
refitting the restaurant and create around 30 new jobs.
“We achieved
critical mass some while ago and each new launch is more successful that the
last, as we fine-tune the business model,” said Giggling Squid MD Andrew
Laurillard, who believes continued investments in systems, processes, people
and marketing stands the company in good stead to improve quality and margins
as the business grows.
“We're very
happy with our Bristol opening – it's busy every night, ahead of budget, with
great customer feedback,” furthered Andrew adding, “Bath has been in our sights
of the key provincial market towns and small cities in which to carry the carry
the brand forward – both Bristol and Bath have an affluent well-travelled
audience that knows what it wants and appreciates very good food at the right
price.”
Barclays Bank
has granted a doubling of its loan facility to £4m to fund growth, as it
appointed accountancy firm Grant Thornton as its commercial advisers, as part
of its strategy to secure further finance for continued growth by the end of
2015.
“But ultimately
we're a food-led business and are still having great fun,” said Pranee
Laurillard, “We are immensely proud that our customers compliment us for still
having the welcoming feel of a one-off independent, which is why people think
of us as a family of restaurants rather than a chain, whilst critics love the
authentic street food style dishes.”
Giggling Squid
Tw:
@GigglingSquid
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