Restaurant and bar operator Loungers has seen an increase in sales since reopening after the coronavirus lockdown, aided by the government's Eat Out to Help Out scheme and VAT reduction for the sector.

The business, which owns 146 sites across England and Wales including Portivo Lounge in Gloucester, Cosy Club in Cheltenham and Curio Lounge in Stroud, recorded record sales during August.

Like for like sales jumped 29.9 percent from July 4 to September 13, with year on year revenue to April improving 8.8 per cent to £166.5 million.

Full-year pre-tax losses deepened to £14.7 million from £6.7 million last year, mainly down to lockdown disruption for the business and intellectual property costs.

Nick Collins, chief executive officer of Loungers said: "I am delighted with the strength of our performance since re-opening which highlights how strategically well-positioned we are in both Lounge and Cosy Club.

"Clearly we don't know what is around the corner. We anticipate further interruption to trade on either a local or regional basis in the short-term and have the balance sheet and liquidity to withstand significant further Covid impacts. Covid has, however, strengthened our belief in the potential scale of both brands in the longer-term and the behavioural shifts being witnessed further underline this.

"In the second half of the year we will cautiously re-start the roll-out and we are excited about the property opportunities available to us and getting back to opening 25 sites a year in due course."