The first Giggling Squid restaurant was in the basement of a former fisherman’s cottage in Hove, which husband-and-wife team Andy, 47, and Pranee Laurillard, 48, bought in 2009. The chain now has 30 eateries across southern England and the Midlands, serving “Thai tapas” — small dishes inspired by rustic Thai cooking. This expansion has been fuelled by a £6.4m investment from the growth-capital firm BGF, which took a minority stake in 2015. The company made a surprise discovery last year while renovating its newly acquired Windsor site — £20,000 worth of fine wine stashed in a secret cellar by previous owners. Sales hit £23.7m in the year to March.