Loungers, the operator of all day restaurants across the UK under the Lounge, Cosy Club and Brightside brands, has made three key appointments to the group.
Current Lounge managing director Justin Carter has been promoted to the new role of group managing director. Effective from today (8 April), Carter, who has been in the business for nine years, will take overall responsibility for all three brands – Lounge, Cosy Club and Brightside.
Kate Eastwood will join as Lounge managing director. She joins Loungers from Fullers where, as operations director, she was responsible for over 100 sites in London and the South.
In addition, David Matthews has been appointed as Lounge operations director (North), following two successful years as a regional operations manager driving the expansion of the company’s Northern frontier.
Nick Collins, CEO of Loungers, said: “I am delighted for both Justin and David and would like to wish a very warm welcome to Kate. We have got to know Kate well over the last few months and are excited about the impact she will have leading the Lounge business.
“As the business continues to grow, it’s critical we have the best organisational structure in place to protect and enhance both our culture and the hospitality we provide. The creation of the group MD role provides a great platform for Justin to influence our current three brands in their different stages of evolution.”
Collins added: “It is also really pleasing that in David’s promotion to ops director, we have another great internal progression story. David joined the business in 2019 as an ops manager, and over the last 5 years has had a major influence on our performance and growth.
“We are fortunate that our rapid growth creates fantastic career development opportunities; our goal is to be the number one choice for anyone looking at a career in the UK hospitality industry.”
