Restaurant chain opens latest Derbyshire café-bar

A restaurant chain has opened its latest new café-bar in Derbyshire, after receiving assistance from Marketing Derby’s investment team.

Loungers Plc, which runs the Carnero Lounge, in St Peter’s Street, Derby, recently welcomed its first customers at the Ostello Lounge, in Matlock’s Crown Square.

It has been called the Ostello Lounge because the town on the edge of the Peak District and is where the Youth Hostel Association’s headquarters are based. The word ‘ostello’ means hostel in Italian.

The new café-bar, which has created 25 new jobs, is dog-friendly and welcoming to families, with board games and toys provided.

As well as a standard menu, it offers gluten-free and vegan menus, along with kids’ options.

Loungers, which was founded in Bristol in 2002, is a national chain and has dozens of restaurants up and down the country.

Adam Rodgers, inward investment executive at Marketing Derby’s Invest in Derbyshire service, said: “We are delighted to have assisted Loungers in its request for demographic data to further support their expansion plans in the Derbyshire Dales.

“Its expansion and investment in Matlock will help boost the local night-time economy, as well as support employment.

“The investment is in addition to exciting plans for Matlock, which also include the redevelopment of the former Market Hall, which is a short distance away, into a two-screen cinema, further enhancing the leisure offer.”

John Forkin, managing director of Marketing Derby, said: “Marketing Derby first worked with Loungers five years ago.

“We have now attracted four of its restaurants into Derby and Derbyshire, all contributing to jobs and the recovery in their area.”