Our proven growth strategy
We achieve strong returns on capital invested, through our unrelenting focus on providing a great customer experience, and maximise the multiple growth opportunities available to us.
We grow our LFL revenue by attracting new customers and increasing the frequency of existing customer visits and stimulating higher spend per game.
What we achieved in FY2023
- Net promoter score of 64.4 per cent
- 60.4 per cent of customers were highly satisfied
- Linked team member bonus schemes to our four critical customer satisfaction drivers
- Improved engagement rates and revenue generation through our customer data platform, using insights to improve the effectiveness of digital marketing
- Refined our website and booking engine functionality to simplify the customer journey, and improve the presentation of products, promotions and dynamic pricing
- Refined our value snacks and sharers food menu, increasing at lane food and beverage orders
- Carried out space optimisation to add extra bowling lanes and extend amusement areas where possible
What's next?
- Continue refurbishment programme in the UK (c. 33 per cent ROI) and Canada (c. 25 per cent ROI)
- Continue to focus on innovation and investment in technology
- Launch our new in-house developed booking system, which will support further business growth in the UK and Canada
4.1%
UK LFL revenue growth vs FY2022
4.5%
Group LFL revenue growth vs FY2022
15.1%
Canada LFL revenue growth vs FY2022
Investment in our centres improves the customer experience and drives sales and profitability. Our upgrades attract new customers, enhance customer satisfaction and increase revenues.
What we achieved in FY2023
- Completed the refurbishment or rebrand of 15 centres – 13 in the UK and two in Canada, investing £6.3m on improvements
- Added extra amusements space during refurbishments – creating on average eight new machine places and adding a total of 86 new amusement pieces in our refurbished centres
- Continued to rollout our in-centre digital installations with enhanced content – now in 36 centres
- Continued to rollout Nayax ‘tap to play’
- Completed rollout of Pins on Strings in 13 more centres – now in 54 centres at end of FY2023
- Installed solar panels at five centres to bring the total to 27 centres
- Retired the AMF brand, with all bowling centres in the UK now rebranded to Hollywood Bowl
- Rebranded all new Canadian centres to the Splitsville brand
What's next?
- At least eight refurbishments to be completed in FY2024
- Continued rollout of Pins on Strings to improve games per stop (GPS)
- Ongoing negotiation with landlords to continue solar panel rollout
15
centres refurbished or rebranded in FY2023
17.4%
LFL spend growth in first year after refurbishment
50%+
average ROI on UK refurbishment capital expenditure
We actively explore growth opportunities in new markets through the build of new centres and via the acquisition of existing sites or leisure operators.
What we achieved in FY2023
- Opened two new Hollywood Bowl centres and one new Putt & Play centre
- Acquired three centres in Calgary, Canada
- Commenced construction on a new build centre in Ontario
What's next?
- At least ten further centres scheduled to open in the UK and Canada by the end of FY2025
- Continue to leverage our customer-led operating model, technology and digital marketing experience to add value to the Canadian business
- Continue to develop a pipeline of new Canadian site opportunities, with more than ten additional sites or acquisitions planned in the next five years
3
new centres opened in UK
3
centres acquired in Calgary, Canada
10+
new Group centres targeted by end of FY2025
Our dedicated, dynamic and diverse teams enable us to deliver on our Group purpose. Attracting and retaining top talent is a priority.
What we achieved in FY2023
- Increased salaried teams’ remuneration by over five per cent
- Rewarded more than 50 per cent of our hourly paid team members with performance-related bonuses
- Developed our employer value proposition which guides how we talk about the Group as an employer and what it means to work with us
- Launched the new employer brand aimed at attracting the best talent, a more diverse workforce and increasing the number of job applicants
- Launched a new careers website
- Developed our employer social media strategy
- Increased the number of Assistant Centre Manager in Training and Centre Manager in Training programmes, and held talent programmes for our technicians and contact centre teams
- Enrolled 14 team members onto the Senior Leadership Development Programme
- Filled 45 per cent of management vacancies from our internal talent pipeline
- Recognised as the number 12 ranked UK’s Top 25 Best Big Companies to Work For in 2023
What's next?
- Continue to run market-leading incentive schemes for our teams
- Welcome our first cohort of graduates onto our Graduate Training Programme
- Extend our employer brand across the Group
45%
of management vacancies filled from internal talent pool
52%+
of hourly paid team members received performance-related bonuses
£3.3m
bonuses paid to centre teams
We believe there are potential sustainable and profitable growth opportunities in the indoor leisure sector in international markets.
What we achieved in FY2023
- Acquired a well operated, asset backed Canadian business in FY2022 that provides the Group with a strategic platform for growth
- Extended the Splitsville brand from five to eleven centres (two added post FY2023 year end) to become the largest branded ten-pin bowling operator in the Canadian market
- Customer research project completed to enhance the customer proposition and centre environments to drive customer satisfaction and sales
- Launched a new brand framework and logo
- Refurbished our largest centre and rebranded all new centres
- Completed the formation of a new senior leadership team and ongoing upskilling programme of Centre Managers
- UK team members recruited to support roles in Canadian team to facilitate cross-learnings and ways of working
What's next?
- Leverage our customer-led operating model, technology and digital marketing experience to add value to the Canadian business
- Continue to develop a pipeline of new Canadian site opportunities, with more than ten additional sites or acquisitions planned in the next five years
- Continue to evaluate opportunities for further international market expansion through the acquisitions of indoor leisure operators with high-quality locations
3
new Canadian centres acquired in FY2023
30+
target size of Canadian estate by 2035
#1
Splitsville is now the market leading ten-pin bowling brand in Canada
