Fortress completes £354.4m acquisition of Loungers: US private equity firm Fortress Investment Group has completed its acquisition of Loungers, the café bar operator of the Lounge, Cosy Club and Brightside brands, for £354.4m. Last month, shareholders of the Nick Collins-led, 285-strong Loungers, which listed in 2019, backed its takeover by Fortress. A total of 93.52% of shareholders voted in favour of the deal. Alex Reilley, chairman of Loungers, said: “This marks the start of a new chapter for Loungers as a privately held company with a new ownership structure, and new partners in Fortress. Nick and I are very much looking forward to working with Fortress to accelerate Loungers’ growth and seizing this great opportunity to take the business to the next level." Collins added: “Alex and I are delighted to have new partners in Fortress that believe in the enduring appeal of our founding principle: creating attractive all-day neighbourhood café-bars that we would want to go to ourselves. In the coming years, we’ll be able to invest more in our growth, opening more locations across the country than ever before and creating welcoming environments with a high-quality food and beverage offer for local communities.” Domnall Tait, managing director at Fortress, which also backs Punch Pubs & Co, said: "We are delighted to have completed the acquisition of Loungers, an excellent company we know has a unique place within UK hospitality. Alex, Nick and the team have already achieved impressive growth, and we look forward to supporting them as they continue to expand Loungers across the UK and further enhance the customer experience. Fortress strongly believes in the UK and experience-led retail, and our track record of making growth investments in consumer-focused businesses ensures we are well placed to help accelerate Loungers’ exciting next phase of growth.” Last week, Loungers opened Argento Lounge in Preston, which is its 245th Lounge (and 285th overall site), in the new Animate development in the centre of the town. At the start of this month, Reilley told Propel it would be “business as usual” for the company under new ownership, with no change to the strategy already in play, including targeting opening around 35 new sites a year. The group has consistently reiterated its belief there is scope for at least 600 Lounges across the UK, and to double its current 36-strong Cosy Club estate. Loungers features in the Propel 500 report, an unparalleled resource that profiles the UK’s leading hospitality operators ranked by turnover – which is available now. This comprehensive report provides more than 90,000 words of analysis, delving into company histories, leadership structures, site numbers and financial performance, making it an essential resource for industry professionals. A list of the operators included can be discovered now by visiting the Propel 500 page on Propel’s website. The guide is delivered in two parts: an introductory PDF, featuring deep dives into the top 25 companies and 6,500 words of insight from Propel’s expert writers, and a fully searchable Excel sheet, offering easy access to all the data. Key highlights include Mark Wingett’s exploration of mergers and acquisitions shaping the Top 500’s future, Tim Street’s view of the UK’s franchise market, and Phil Pemberton’s insights into experiential leisure as a hospitality cornerstone. Katherine Doggrell examines developments in UK hotels, while Mark Bentley, business development director at HDI, identifies emerging growth sectors, and Maria Vanifatova, founder of Meaningful Vision, analyses trends in quick service restaurants. Propel 500 is available now for £595 plus VAT. Existing Premium Club members can purchase it for £395 plus VAT. Premium Club members will receive the report for free on Friday, 28 February at 9am. Order the Propel 500 report today by emailing: kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com.

Pret to now keep Club Pret subscription at £5 a month: Pret A Manger is to keep its Club Pret subscription at £5 a month instead of raising the cost to £10 from the end of March. In September last year, Pret shook up the scheme with subscribers receiving 50% off up to five drinks a day for £5 a month until 31 March 2025 instead of five free drinks a day for £30 a month. At the time of the change, Pret said the cost would rise to £10 a month from April, but has now decided to leave it at £5. In an email to subscribers, Pret stated: “We are writing to you about some important updates to your Club Pret subscription fee. Our Club Pret monthly subscription fee will remain at just £5. At Pret, we believe in offering high-quality, organic coffee and barista-made drinks at fantastic value. With Club Pret, you’ll continue to enjoy great savings on up to five barista-made drinks per day. Thank you for being part of Club Pret. We love serving you and hope to see you in our shops very soon.” Pret has not revealed how many Club Pret members it has.

Yotel returns to profit: Yotel, the budget accommodation brand launched by YO! founder Simon Woodroffe, returned to profit in the year to 31 December 2023. The company – which now operates six hotels in the UK and 17 overseas under licence under its Yotel, Yotelair and Yotelpad brands – turned a pre-tax loss of £3,506,118 in 2022 into a profit of £5,937,527. It is only the second time the company has turned a profit since being incorporated in 2003. The other occasion, in 2021, saw the company achieve a £26m profit due to interest on an intercompany loan being waived. At the time, the company said it continued to be loss-making on an operating level but expected to deliver profits in the future due to accelerated growth. In 2023, the company’s revenue grew from £10,531,581 in 2022 to £14,947,905. Of this, £8,002,614 came from Europe (2022: £6,557,479), £5,580,401 from the US (2022: £3,359,513) and £1,364,889 from Asia and the rest of the world (2022: £614,589). No dividends were paid (2022: nil). Post year end, the company opened a hotel in Geneva and a third London hotel, and secured sites for its debut locations in Japan and Northern Ireland.