Laugfs expands

Five-star hotel in Chilaw; Hypermalls in three cities:

by Lalin FERNANDUPULLE

Laugfs Holdings, a pioneer in the lubricant industry and the consumer retail market in the country will begin construction of a five-star hotel in Bangadeniya, Chilaw within the next two weeks.

Chairman, Laugfs Holdings, W.K.H. Wegapitiya said the company planned to commence work on the project last week but had to delay due to elections.

“We have finalised all procedures and hope to start work on the hotel by the end of this month”, Wegapitiya said.

Laugfs Holdings is a public quoted company and has made noteworthy progress in the lubricant and super market business. The company plans to make a mark in the leisure sector which is developing rapidly.

“Laugfs will invest around Rs. 850 million on the 100-room hotel and will employ people from the area”, Wegapitiya said.

According to the Chairman, a hotel school will also be built simultaneously to provide training for youth in the area. Wegapitiya said initially around 150 jobs will be created and with expansion there will be more employment opportunities for youth in the area.

Laugfs which has positioned itself in the retail consumer market will invest around Rs. 300 million to set up hyper shopping malls in Colombo and the suburbs this year.

“We will set up four hypermarkets in Colombo and small scale markets in the North and the East which have great potential for retail business”, Wegapitiya said.

He said for the past two years the company did not expand and make substantial investments in the retail business. With the revival of the economy there is ample scope for development in this sector.

Laugfs operates around 26 supermarkets in the country and is a strong contender to the rest of the supermarket chain operators in the country.

The shopping malls will be set up in Battaramulla, Wattala and central Colombo. The hyper supermarkets will be 30,000 sq ft in extent. The hyper supermarkets will be operated by SunUpSupermarkets (Pvt) Ltd., a subsidiary of Laugfs Holdings.