In its full-year results concluding on April 2, 2023, the Thai restaurant group disclosed that its like-for-like sales were 'materially ahead of pre-pandemic levels'.
The restaurant turnover experienced an 11.3% increase over the year, rising from £65.9 million to £73.3 million. Some of the generated cash was utilised to partially fund the establishment of three new sites in Maidstone, Winchester, and Alderley Edge.
CEO Andy Laurillard said, 'FY23 was quite tough with post pandemic challenges affecting all of the main lines of hospitality sector P&Ls – a frightened customer retrenching, double digit food inflation, labour cost and availability issues, energy spikes and the withdrawal of government support.
'We dealt with all of that and are heading into the back half of FY24 with our strongest ever numbers and our happiest ever customers.'
After the year-end, the group reported that sales have continued to be robust, and EBITDA margins have reverted to pre-pandemic levels. Additionally, Giggling Squid successfully launched two new sites in Cardiff and Bracknell, both of which are surpassing initial expectations in terms of trading performance.
Established in 2009 by Pranee and Andrew Laurillard, Giggling Squid originated with its first restaurant in Brighton. Presently, the brand operates 48 restaurants, with additional openings in the pipeline for the current financial year.