Bristol Lounge bar chain is doing well
The company, which owns the Lounge chain of bars, is expanding to offer its businesses in towns across the West.
Alex Reilley, Dave Reid and Jake Bishop opened their first site on the border of Bedminster and Southville.
The friends identified a major niche in Bristol's suburban food and drink market and, having raised £10,000 each and borrowed £20,000, opened their first bar.
That was in August 2002 – just as Southville was becoming trendy and when family houses were still affordable – and the Lounge on North Street was born.
They looked at areas of Bristol where there were a growing number of young professionals and a lack of high quality cafes and pubs.
They opened all-day cafes that doubled up as bars in the evening.
This flexibility attracted a range of customers, starting with shoppers and new parents with babies in the morning, local office workers at lunch, post-work drinkers in the early evening and the locals looking for food and drink later on.
In addition to Southville, there are now Lounge bars on Clifton, Horfield, Fishponds and Totterdown. Last year the chain opened its first operations in Bath and Cardiff, taking its total to seven sites, which produce an annual turnover of £4.6 million.
Alex Reilley said: "We've now opened two bars in Cardiff, and next year we're expanding into Reading and then Swindon.
"What we've found is that people are happier to go out nearer to home, rather than paying to go into town. As most of our places are in the suburbs, this means we're doing well at this time.
"People are still wanting to spend money in this climate, but they want to feel they are getting the best value for it."
The firm's unique business model saw it the won the Post's Bristol Business of the Year Award for companies with a turnover of less than £5 million in May this year.
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