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, 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.
The Bath site is located in Bluecote House in Saw Close opposite the Theatre Royal. It will re-open as Giggling Squid with approximately 200 covers once major works to the square in front of the theatre are finished in 2016.
“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.
Continuing growth
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, the business now hitting an impressive EBITDA run rate of around £2m.
Barclays Bank has granted a doubling of its loan facility to £4m to fund growth, and Giggling Squid has 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.
For more information click here