The Lounges are a Bristol success story. Next year, expect new Lounges to open in Westbury-on-Trym and Portishead, to join the five already in Bristol and more than 20 across the UK. Founded in 2002 in what used to be an opticians on North Street, over the next five years there will continue to be a rapid expansion of the chain, with 50 more planned to open.
Alex Reilley, Jake Bishop and Dave Reid spotted an opportunity to create a new chain of informal, neighbourhood all-day café-bar-restaurants and have not looked back or changed their basic model for the Lounge business.
Talking at an event organised by the Bristol branch of the Institute of Directors, Reilly said that your local Lounge, situated on “secondary high streets”, has for many people replaced their local pub as where they meet up with friends any time of the day.
But with all the success comes challenges. After growing the brand “fairly aggressively”, the main problem according to Reilly is a cultural one, comparing the business to the Emerald City. On the outside, your own Lounge nearest you is a cuddly rogue, but in reality it is a big business which last year had a turnover of £24.1 million.
The Lounge’s tentacles spread across Bristol. Reilley used to be operations manager for the Glassboat, Byzantium and Spyglass, while another in that group, Blue Goose on the Gloucester Road, became Tinto Lounge, the second Lounge, in June 2003. It was named Tinto because they painted it red.
Loungers, the name of the business behind the Lounges, own a 40 per cent share in Goldbrick House on Park Street, and have diversified into the Cosy Club bar and restaurant chain and Flatcappers pubs, which own the Battleaxes in Wraxall.
Perhaps their greatest legacy, however, is the destination of former members of staff and a novel scheme which sees managers given three years of training and after that expected to go off and found their own business.
Lounge staff have set up other Bristol success stories including Hyde & Co, Milk Thistle and Rosemarino, and as the Lounge becomes a national chain, Bristol will only benefit.
