Our brands and locations

We operate five Puttstars indoor mini-golf centres that appeal to a broad range of consumers. The market remains highly fragmented with more than 1,000 indoor and outdoor locations in the UK, where independent operators manage the vast majority.

Each of our Puttstars centres offers a diverse entertainment experience, including nine-hole courses, bar, diner, and amusements area.

Technology and digital channels form an integral part of the Puttstars customer journey and marketing approach. We have a bespoke digital scoring system and our in-centre screen installations provide centre-wide leaderboard information, promoting friendly competition and heightened customer participation.

Evolving the brand experience Our newest centre at the Queensgate Shopping Centre, Peterborough, opened in November 2022 and incorporated several enhancements following some extensive customer research.

These included greater variation in course difficulty, for example the introduction of larger holes and club heads for junior players and more defined course designs.

We also introduced a new mobile-based scoring system, an upgraded website and an updated brand communication framework and new logo for the centres.

The enhancements from Peterborough have been adapted and introduced into the other four Puttstars locations.

In addition to the upgraded mini-golf proposition first seen in Peterborough, we have further evolved the Puttstars customer offer (and optimised the space returns) by extending the amusements area in Harrow and adding duck-pin bowling lanes in Leeds, to look to enhance the revenues and customer experience.

Whilst bowling centres remain the Group’s first choice when entering new locations due to their heightened returns, the market opportunity for indoor mini-golf remains strong.

We have introduced a mini-golf course into our Hollywood Bowl centre in Leeds and plan to include two courses in our new Hollywood Bowl centre in Colchester which will open in FY2024.

We are also considering adding mini-golf as an additional offer in other centres where space configuration allows.

Splitsville is made up of nine large family entertainment centres (at the end of FY2023) spread across the country, with six centres in Ontario, two in British Columbia and three in Alberta. All the centres have ten-pin bowling lanes, a large bar and diner and an amusements area, with some offering American pool, laser tag and indoor mini-golf.

In February 2023, the Group acquired three centres in Calgary, Alberta, providing a strategic location between Ontario and British Columbia. These centres are all leasehold properties and established businesses and, having been relaunched in their markets under the Splitsville brand, provide the Group with a foundation for further growth in this key market.

Post FY2023 year end, the Group has completed two acquisitions, one in Ontario and the other in British Columbia. Both have been relaunched in their markets under the Splitsville brand, taking the estate to 11 centres as at 16 December 2023..

Our refurbishment programme has begun with Richmond Hill completed during the year and Kingston due to complete in FY2024. We also have two further refurbishments planned for FY2024. The renovations are introducing many features already established in the UK.

The refurbishment concepts are backed by extensive customer-research, which affirmed that the Canadian market is ready for an upgraded, branded, familyfriendly leisure proposition similar to Hollywood Bowl’s UK customer-orientated operating model.

The performance of Richmond Hill is testament to this strategy, which has exceeded revenue and profitability expectations since being refurbished and relaunching under the Splitsville brand.

We are enhancing our technology and digital marketing to improve the online customer journey and have introduced a refreshed brand communications framework and new logo.

We are also putting the structural foundations in place to support a fast-growing business, including a new senior leadership team, and upskilling the Centre Managers to drive revenues and yields.

With over 190 single-owned or multi-site group-owned bowling centres across Canada, the Group has a healthy development and acquisition pipeline.

The opportunity for consolidation in the market is significant and through the growth of the estate in FY2023, Splitsville is already the largest branded ten-pin bowling operator in the country.

We are currently on site at one new build in Ontario and negotiating on several other new build sites. All acquisitions and developments are subject to the same return on investment hurdle rate.

Our Striker Bowling Solutions operation continues to support the industry as a supplier and installer of bowling equipment, as well as supporting our own expansion requirements.

Its established national network is providing us with access to a large section of the Canadian market and an unmatched insight into the changes that are taking place in the industry.