All Giggling Squid articles
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Interviews
Giggling Squid: ‘We’re trading way ahead of pre-Covid’
After reporting a turnover of £65.9m for the year to April 2022, trading has stayed resilient through a challenging environment, MD Andy Laurillard tells MCA
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News
Giggling Squid has ‘most profitable year since inception’
The group reported turnover for the 52 weeks to April 2022 of £65.9m, up 94.4% on 2021, with seven new restaurants having opened during the period
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News
Openings of the week
MCA rounds up this week’s biggest openings stories, featuring new venues from Giggling Squid, Gusto Italian, Barrio, and more
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Analysis & Insight
Minimum wage hikes: ‘We are not in a position to help’
The TUC has set out plans for the attainment of a £15 per hour minimum wage rate – but operators are not convinced. Featuring commentary from Giggling Squid, 3Sixty Restaurants and Chop’d.
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News
Giggling Squid names new exec team
The BGF-backed Thai restaurant group has shuffled its senior team, with several internal promotions, as it continues to expand across the UK
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News
Giggling Squid COO departs
Rory Marthinusen stepped down as chief operating officer at the Thai restaurant chain earlier this month, MCA understands, following four years in the role
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News
Giggling Squid debuts Welsh site
The new 3,000 sq ft site will open in Cardiff’s St David’s dining quarter on the Hayes, later this year, and forms part of the BGF-backed Thai restaurant group’s expansion plans
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News
Giggling Squid: ‘highly resilient over the last 18 months’
Giggling Squid’s has a pipeline of new locations having traded strongly during lockdown, with Andrew Laurillard playing down recent talk of an initial public offering.
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News
Giggling Squid still considering IPO
Giggling Squid is to look at its options with regards to a potential flotation early next year, co-founder and chief executive Andy Laurillard has told MCA.
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News
Giggling Squid builds dark kitchen presence
The Thai restaurant group has continued to achieve strong delivery and takeaway sales and plans to expand its delivery-only estate alongside a pipeline of restaurant sites.
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News
Giggling Squid: ‘We agreed rent concessions for almost all sites’
Giggling Squid successfully negotiated with the majority of its landlords, agreeing terms for short rent holidays with “almost all of them”, according to chief executive Andy Laurillard.
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News
Giggling Squid: ‘We’ve had geography and cuisine type on our side’
The location of Giggling Squid’s estate in smallish cities and the suburbs of larger urban areas has been a huge bonus during the pandemic – alongside the portability of its dishes, according to co-founder Andy Laurillard. Speaking on MCA’s The Conversation, he explained that the business had managed to remain ...
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News
‘No reticence from customers about coming out’
Early indications suggest indoors opening got off to a good start yesterday, as the much-cited “pent-up demand” came to fruition, as consumers sought refuge from the rain to return back inside hospitality venues.
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News
Giggling Squid continues expansion
Giggling Squid, the BGF-backed Thai restaurant chain, is to open a 3,800 sq ft restaurant at Aquila Holding’s Bond Street mall in Chelmsford.
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Analysis & Insight
Roadmap ‘too little too late’ and ‘worse than the worst-case scenario’
Sector leaders have criticised the Government for once again “penalising hospitality” with its reopening strategy, forcing pubs and restaurants to wait a further three months before they can operate inside. The proposed reopening timeline has been branded “too little too late,” and “worse than the worst-case scenario” by operators from all corners of the sector, who have warned that without significant support in next week’s Budget, there will be a “devastating” fallout for businesses.
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Interviews
Hero Award: ‘The calmest head in the choppiest sea’
At the start of the pandemic, there was understandably lots of anxiety among staff at Giggling Squid, who were put on furlough.
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Event News
Hospitality heroes recognised at Retailers’ Retailer Awards
To mark what has been a truly testing 12 months, this year MCA is introducing a new, unique category at the Retailers’ Retailer Awards, which recognises the unsung heroes of the hospitality sector.
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News
Giggling Squid proves ‘off-site trading model’
Giggling Squid is currently in a “strong financial position” and “trading well given its regional bias” as it heads into winter, according to its latest financial accounts.
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Interviews
Giggling Squid founder Andy Laurillard: ‘This is the asteroid that hit the dinosaurs’
Up to date on rent payments, a brand-new opening, and like for like’s ahead of last year - looking at Giggling Squid, the word ‘crisis’ doesn’t spring to mind.