The Oracle: Issue #2

THE ORACLE 

THE OFFICIAL GAMECHANGERS MAGAZINE 

ISSUE #2 

OCT 23 

RESEARCH: 

PRE- BOOKED PROFITABILITY 

FOR CHRISTMAS 

DATA ANALYSIS: 

THE DECLINE IN BOOZE 

CENTRED SOCIALISING 

LICENSING ADVICE: 

DON’T MENTION THE C-WORD! 

SIGN UP TO 

GAMECHANGERS

THE ORACLE - OCTOBER ISSUE - #02 

WELCOME 

BACK 

Welcome to the second edition of The 

Oracle, the e-zine from Gamechangers 

that keeps you updated on the world of 

competitive socialising, immersive gaming 

and interactive leisure. 

Speaking of interactive, we are 

bringing a healthy dose of exactly 

that to our own game. As you 

read through these pages, you’ll 

find loads of click throughs to 

websites, downloads and videos 

that furnish you with even more 

information and insights into the 

brilliant innovators leading the way 

in this sector. 

The aim of Gamechangers is to 

provide a network and support 

that ensures this burgeoning 

sector continues to thrive. 

If you are not a member of 

Gamechangers yet, please take 

time to have a look at everything 

we have to offer. 

As a member you will have access 

to a host of benefits and exclusive 

offers including benchmarking, 

price indexing, free music audits, 

data & insight – all focussed 

specifically on your sector. 

You and your teams will also be 

able to use free 24/7 helplines 

for licensing, HR and insurance 

advice. 

Just £99 per month will give ALL 

of your venues access to ALL of 

these benefits. 

Here’s one of those interactive 

links I mentioned – click to join! 

We’ve been out and about at a 

whole host of venues since our 

launch issue, giving us an up close 

and personal experience of the 

ever-broadening entertainment on 

offer throughout the sector. 

And we want to experience even 

more! So, if you would like The 

Oracle to visit and play or join you 

at your latest opening, just drop us 

a line at oracle@gamechangers. 

org.uk so we can see exactly what 

makes you so special. 

See you about town! 

Sharon Dickinson, Commercial 

Director & Content Editor 

3


Editor-in-Chief 

Matt Eley 

matt@gamechangers.org.uk 

Commercial Director & Content Editor 

Sharon Dickinson 

sharon@gamechangers.org.uk 

Graphics & Design 

Cieran de Valmency 

cieran@gamechangers.org.uk 

This Month’s Contributors 

Scott Hulme, Managing Director, Venners 

Ed Christmas, Managing Director, Bums on Seats 

Hugh Knowles, Owner, Leisure Social 

Katie Jenkins, Managing Director, KAM 

Luke Elford, Partner, John Gaunt & Partners 

Oliver Calvert, Head of Brand & Marketing, Romero Group 

Molly Davis, Head of Communications, BII 

Advertising Opportunities 

oracle@gamechangers.org.uk 

Managing Director, Gamechangers 

Jade Craig 

jade@gamechangers.org.uk 

Hospitality Consultant, Gamechangers 

Kelly Mortimer 

kelly@gamechangers.org.uk 

The Oracle 

Gamechangers Organisation Ltd 

Coach House, Ryeford 

Stonehouse, Gloucestershire 

GL10 3HG 

CHAIRMAN’S 

FOREWORD 

It is with the greatest pleasure I welcome you 

to Issue 2 of The Oracle - and haven’t we been 

busy! There’s lots to tell since our last issue… 

Since our last edition, we are 

delighted to welcome Hugh 

Knowles to our advisory board at 

Gamechangers. As the former MD 

of Puttshack Ltd, and having 25+ 

years in the leisure and hospitality 

business, Hugh is consulting with 

a number of businesses within the 

sector. We are honoured to have 

such talent on our own board, 

further enriching the proposition for 

all Gamechangers members. 

We, at All Star Lanes, were lucky 

to have The Oracle come to visit 

as we hosted the relaunch of our 

Stratford venue. Having traded 

successfully for 11 years in the East 

of London, the venue underwent 

significant refurbishment and now 

features a beautiful new cocktail 

bar, a vibrant party space and two 

karaoke suites - with more to come 

early in the new year. 

Now, as the Indian Summer 

wanes, it can be hard to believe 

how very close to Christmas we 

are. We are enthused to report 

that, despite a generally slower 

return from summer to corporate 

events across the industry, 

Christmas bookings are coming in 

nicely. Many operators are seeing 

contracts and those all-important 

deposits starting to fall in line with 

pre-covid timelines. 

This issue sees a feature article 

from founder members, Bums 

on Seats. . Indeed we are gifted at 

Gamechangers all year round to 

have their MD, Ed Christmas, on 

the board of Gamechangers and 

in this months issue, (page 14) he 

is giving his ‘Christmas top tips’. 

He’ll be venturing into process 

design, ensuring there are no ‘leaky 

buckets’ in the sales pipeline; the 

importance of tracking; good 

bookings housekeeping; as well as 

maximising potential upsells from 

those clients who have confirmed 

bookings already. 

Luke Elford of John Gaunt & 

Partners Licensing Solicitors has 

put aside his Grinch-like nature 

and written an in-depth series 

of top tips on how to avoid the 

sting of licensing for operators at 

Christmas time. 

Lucky Voice are in perfect pitch on 

page 9, with Charlie Elek discussing 

their evolved world with The Oracle. 

Delve into the decline of booze- 

centered socialising with KAM’s 

latest research report. Board 

member, Katie Jenkins, explores 

the opportunities to be won 

over the Christmas period with 

a revamped focus on Low & No 

alcohol offerings - on page 22. 

May I be one of the first to wish all 

our members and partners a happy 

and successful final quarter to 

2023, and all the very best for this 

season’s trade, 

THE ORACLE 

Graham Cook, 

Chairman of Gamechangers 

4 

5


09 

OPERATOR INSIGHT 

Sing when you’re winning 

We hand the mic to Gamechangers 

member Lucky Voice to hear what 

they’ve been up to 

17 

THE ORACLE 

ABOUT TOWN 

Checking out Canary 

Wharf and the O2 

We take aim at Clays in Canary Wharf and 

get a shuffle on at Boom Battle Bar 

22 

LATEST RESEARCH 

The decline in boozecentred 

socialising 

KAM looks at the rise in Brits 

cutting back on alcohol 

26 

LICENSING ADVICE 

Don’t mention the C word! 

Top tips on planning for Christmas from 

John Gaunt & Partners 

CONTENTS 

12 

MEET THE SUPPLIER 

Meet Venners 

Venners MD Scott Hulme talks profit 

building and compliance 

20 

MEET THE BOARD 

Hugh Knowles, 

Owner of Leisure Social 

Hugh Knowles is on hand to 

help members ace their own 

business ventures 

34 

LATEST INSIGHTS 

Your guide to the 12 

months of Christmas 

Purists of Play provides a go-to calendar 

for prepping a successful Christmas 

36 


150% Boost to your 

customer visits with 

Location Bank 

Data specialists Location Bank help 

customers find you 

14 


Pre-booked 

profitability for 

Christmas 

30 


How competitive 

socialising is dominating 

the hospitality industry 

Insurance specialists NDML look at what 

adapting your business can mean 

38 

CASE STUDY 

Sport fits the bill at 

Boom Battle Bar 

TNT Sports is part of the action at 

Boom Battle Bar 

Bums on Seats look at ways of 

making this festive season a merry 

and profitable one 

32 

41 

Editor’s pick! 

PUB PERSPECTIVE 

Revolutionising the 

Christmas work party 

Against washout summers and set course meals for 

Christmas work parties, utilise your space with competitive 

socialising to boost your venue’s edge, come rain or shine. 

WHAT’S NEW 

Changing the game 

Openings and more from across 

the sector 

6


SING WHEN YOU’RE 

WINNING 

OPERATOR INSIGHT 

While recent years have seen an explosion in competitive 

socialising venue openings, Lucky Voice has been hitting the right 

notes long before this mainstream emergence in hospitality. 

The karaoke chain - and 

Gamechangers member - has 

been providing groups with private 

booths to sing with friends and 

colleagues to their hearts’ content 

since 2005. 

With four London sites, another in 

Brighton, a franchise in Dubai and 

plans for more - both home and 

abroad - in the pipeline, Lucky Voice 

is turning the volume up. 

Speaking with The Oracle in the 

comfort of the VIP booth at Lucky 

Voice’s newest site at London’s 

Liverpool Street, Managing 

Director Charlie Elek explains that 

the success of the competitive 

socialising sector has helped his 

business up its own game. 

He explains: “It’s been really great 

for us that this space has been 

created. When Bounce opened 

in 2012 that was a key moment 

because off the back of that came 

Flight Club, Puttshack, Swingers… 

everything else. 

“We saw these operators as 

competitors - but in a positive way 

because there were not that many 

in our space. 

Charlie Elek, Managing 

Director of Lucky Voice 

Matt Eley, Editor-in-Chief, 


8 

9


“We feed off what the competition 

has to offer - and we learn a lot 

from them - even though we are 

not competitive by nature. 

“We are not about singing well 

or winning, the best karaoke 

experiences are when someone 

who has never sung before gets up 

and has the time of their life with 

everyone around them!” 

This scene is a regular occurrence 

for Lucky Voice, which attracts 

swathes of office parties and hen 

and stag dos. Often, when a guest 

has visited with work and enjoyed 

the experience, they immediately 

rebook and return with friends. 

With more than 10,000 songs to 

pick from in the catalogue, and 

the ability to order food and drink 

to be delivered to your booth, there 

is already plenty of choice at Lucky 

Voice, however the brand’s latest 

concept takes some inspiration 

from other players in the market. 

Their new ‘I’m Feeling Lucky’ option 

gives guests a randomiser option, 

where duets will be paired and 

songs generated to sing. While not 

‘competitive’ in the SingStar sense, 

it does add in a new interactive 

element to the offer. 

Charlie adds: “It’s a really nice 

touch. It works well for our 

regulars but it’s also a nice way of 

introducing people to it. We have 

another game in development too.” 

Always leading the way in new 

and innovative technology, Lucky 

Voice licenses its software to other 

hospitality venues across the 

globe. 

Meanwhile, the business is 

focusing on other areas to increase 

dwell time and the overall customer 

experience, such as its food and 

drink offer. Bigger bar and kitchen 

areas have been key components 

of its latest sites (Holborn and 

Liverpool Street) and this will 

continue throughout its future 

expansion plans. 

Charlie continues: “It really helps 

our sales team bring in corporates 

and big day events. 

“It’s still a fairly small percentage 

of overall revenue (about 5%) and 

we want to get the balance right 

to increase dwell time, so people 

don’t feel they have to go to dinner 

before or after their session. But 

with food GP diminishing all the 

time we don’t currently have an aim 

to get to 20%.” 

Another area where Lucky Voice is 

on a similar journey with rivals in 

the sector is in looking across the 

Atlantic for opportunities. 

Charlie, who has witnessed 

the success of brands such 

as Puttshack, Flight Club and 

Swingers on the East Coast first 

hand, says: “It’s interesting how few 

people know that the businesses 

have come over from the UK.“ 

“It’s amazing that the UK is selling 

entertainment to the US and it’s 

working a treat, but it’s a testament 

to those concepts. We were in 

Puttshack in Boston at 5pm on 

a Monday and it was absolutely 

packed in there.” 

While the US is likely to get its 

first Lucky Voice in the next 18 

months, the UK will see even more 

with another site in London on the 

way and others likely to pop up in 

Birmingham and Manchester. 

These are ambitious plans, but 

perhaps nothing less than you 

would expect from an MD who 

confesses that if he could perform 

a karaoke duet with anyone at all it 

would be Elvis Presley. 

Charlie’s own star has famously 

risen after starting out as a 

graduate intern at Lucky Voice. 

He was given an opportunity by 

founders Martha Lane Fox and 

Nick Thistleton, grabbed it and rose 

to running the business. 

He takes huge pride in senior team 

members having risen through the 

ranks to the leadership team. He 

still conducts ‘values’ interviews 

with all full time recruits (there are 

110 members of staff across the 

business) to ensure they are the 

right fit for each other. There is 

focus on progression, mental wellbeing, 

clear communication and 

good old fashioned fun. 

He explains: “We have a great team 

of people who really buy into the 

values. It’s been a real help to do 

that. It’s something I love doing and 

it means I meet all the team before 

they start. Lucky Voice is such a 

fun place to be as a customer that 

it needs to be a fun and joyous 

place to work.” 

With more concepts and openings 

on the way, the good times look 

set to continue for both staff and 

customers alike. 

Discover Lucky 

Voice in London, 

Brighton & beyond 

luckyvoicekaraoke.com 

10 

11


MEET VENNERS 

Gamechangers’ list of supplier partners is packed with 

experts committed to supporting operator members 

build strong, expanding and profitable businesses. 

This issue The Oracle met with Scott Hulme, MD at Venners, 

to discuss how their partnerships offer profit building, and 

secure and compliant venues. 

We have developed a strong 

consultancy side of the business 

that offers investigations, advice 

on financial and operational 

processes, food and drink control 

plus other practical services. 

We also offer the monitoring of 

company compliance to ensure 

that processes are working. We 

work closely with the policies that 

a business already has in place, to 

check and report that your teams 

are adhering to them. 

Operators are expected to be the 

heads of all departments, and they 

simply haven’t got the time. We’re 

here to take away the stress and 

pain operators face, by providing 

practical action points to control 

and improve the space’s efficiency 

and profitability.” 

Why is data important? 

“It’s all about competition. To be 

the best operator you need to 

have the best data. 

Data gives a crucial snapshot to 

assess business health. It should 

cover every area of the business 

and goes beyond keeping track of 

food and drink. Of course, losing 

10 pints or wasting food, should 

be addressed. But to truly focus on 

adding pounds to the bottom line, it 

is just as important to monitor data 

related to equipment, invoices, staff 

costs and prices - and to make 

corrections accordingly. 

Operators ultimately have to find 

the right companies who can 

support them, are trustworthy 

partners and can work on budget.” 

What kind of changes are 

you seeing? 

“Competitive Socialising is 

attracting new people and 

franchisees into the industry, 

injecting fresh ideas, and keeping 

the sector competitive, innovative, 

and fast paced. However, these 

people often come from a 

non-hospitality background and 

may not have had the opportunity 

to see how setting up essential 

controls benefit their operation.” 

What are you currently 

working on? 

“There is so much we are focusing 

on and we look forward to being 

able to share our research, 

benchmarking, industry standard 

reports and price indexing soon.” 


How long have you been 

in hospitality? 

“I have worked in hospitality for 

36 years, starting as a waiter 

and working my way up to pub 

manager. I am now MD at Venners. 

When I left college, I started my 

career in accountancy but carried 

on working in the evenings at the 

pub. My boss at the accountancy 

firm asked me to quit my 

hospitality job to concentrate on 

accountancy. I thought, you know 

what, I actually enjoy my evening 

job in hospitality more than my day 

job in accountancy. 

I just love the culture of the 

sector, but I do also enjoy working 

with facts and figures, which is 

why almost 30 years ago now, I 

joined Venners - to get the best 

of both worlds. So, I have been in 

hospitality on both sides of the 

fence and that’s given me a good 

grounding and understanding of 

what the industry is and needs.” 

What do Venners offer? 

“Venners are an established and 

respected stocktake and audit 

company. We pride ourselves on 

working with operators, giving 

them real time practical advice and 

support, as well as helping them 

implement processes. 

Good old-fashioned stocktaking 

is a valuable resource for the P&L. 

How many bottles are left? How 

many steaks can you still sell? Have 

you lost a keg? Beyond answering 

those types of questions though, 

we offer operators so much more…. 

Your stock has monetary value. 

If someone stole £50 out of your 

safe, you’d call the police. But 

when it comes to stock going 

missing it is often not seen to be 

quite as serious as when cash 

Check out Venners today: 

www.venners.com 

goes missing. Then again, it’s 

no good turning up at a site 

saying, ‘you need to lock all 

your stock up for 24 hours 

a day so that none of it gets 

pinched!’ 

Scott Hulme, Managing 

Director of Venners 

“ If someone stole £50 out 

of your safe, you’d call the 

police. But when it comes 

to stock going missing it is 

often not seen to be quite 

as serious as when cash 

goes missing. “ 

12 

13


PRE-BOOKED 

PROFITABILITY FOR 

CHRISTMAS 

Top Tips from Mr Christmas! 

Within hospitality - across all the sectors, not just competitive 

socialising - Christmas is the time of year that businesses 

rely on. With this year looking to be more promising than the 

previous three (fingers crossed!), it’s more important than ever 

to ensure that not only is your Christmas bigger than ever but 

that it is as profitable as possible. 

Existing Opportunities 

Undoubtedly by now, groups of 

friends and colleagues alike will 

be making enquiries and setting 

up bookings to celebrate the 

Christmas period. 


Check Your Foundations 

It’s common for businesses to 

drive off-peak trade during the 

quieter months, and it’s tempting 

to launch into the world of discount 

culture. 

But before doing that - ask yourself: 

Are your systems working as hard 

as they possibly can? 

Have you agreed when you’ll start 

taking small bookings for the 

Christmas period? 

Have you got automations set up 

in your CRM platform? 

Has your sales team contacted 

last year’s bookers directly? 

If you’re unsure of any of the 

answers to these questions, you’re 

going to want to review and use 

your existing information, data 

and platforms to their maximum 

potential. 

This efficiency helps your bottom 

line and, in turn, customer retention 

and loyalty in the mid-to-long term 

after Christmas. Otherwise, your 

sales and marketing efforts might 

be going to waste. 

Track Everything 

Track, track and track again! Not 

the kind of tracks you get at an F1 

Arcade (excuse the pun!), but it’s 

crucial to ensure your business is 

tracking prebooked sales and the 

productivity of your marketing. 

By keeping an eye on the activities 

you’re doing, it means you can 

learn what genuinely works for your 

business and adapt as you go. 

Tracking as much as you can gives 

you the best chance of making this 

the most profitable Christmas to 

date. 

Training 

Have you carried out practice runs 

before the big day(s)? 

According to a survey conducted 

by Studio68, 56% of hospitality 

staff do not feel as though they 

have had sufficient training in their 

role. It’s integral to ensure that the 

team not only know what they are 

doing, but how they are doing it. 

For example, in a post-covid world 

and durihng the cost of living crisis, 

it’s key that your team understands 

how to attract new customers and 

approach existing ones. What is 

the best way to approach new 

business? Both B2B and B2C? 

What are the targets to achieve? 

By reviewing the bookings that are 

already locked in, could there be 

opportunities for you to build upon? 

What can be done to enhance the 

customer experience and tap into 

not just the customer’s needs, but 

the customer’s emotional wants? 

Can you offer something exclusive? 

Can you arrange a special package 

to increase the spend per head for 

the parties already locked in - both 

small and large? 

Additionally, once the foundations 

have been set up, it’s important to 

ensure your booking system has 

the capability to offer upsells at the 

point of booking. Bums on Seats 

have seen successes across the 

industry - with one competitive 

socialising venue bringing in 

an additional £1,000-£2,000 

additional prebooked revenue 

every week just by offering 

purchasable upsells at the 

point of booking. 

1 

2 

3 

4 

Ed Christmas, Managing 

Director of Bums On Seats 

In summary, there are plenty of opportunities and quick wins 

that can ensure you make this Christmas the most profitable 

one yet. Look at the data, focus on the low hanging fruit and 

adapt accordingly. Make this year a gamechanger. 

14 

15


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CHECKING OUT 

CANARY WHARF 

AND THE O2 

Exclusive access & tickets to: 

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New openings & venue listings 

Join Gamechangers TODAY! 

The Oracle heads to London to discover the vibe in Canary Wharf 

and the O2. 

With two twenty-somethings 

very committed to all things 

competitive socialising, and two 

fifty-somethings willing to ‘have a 

go’, The Oracle just knew that a day 

in Canary Wharf would deliver! 

Midday; the sun is shining and 

the place is already buzzing. As 

we walk towards the first venue 

it’s amazing to see how many 

hospitality businesses are vying 

for attention. Eating, drinking and 

playing is certainly at the heart 

of Canary Wharf. Our first stop is 

Clays for an hour of shooting, food 

and drinks. 

Clays is an epic venue with well 

designed, comfy booths, huge 

high-definition screens, various 

shooting scenarios, phone 

charging slots and easy-to-use 

ordering tablets. 

Greeted by a warm and welcoming 

team member, we confirm our 

17


“ Within five minutes, 

all niceties and 

non-competitive 

behaviour go out 

the window, and we 

suddenly transform 

into wannabe Team 

GB sharp shooters! “ 

arena, several immersive dining 

and theatre experiences, a cinema, 

indoor trampolining, huge shopping 

outlets, extensive food and drink 

offerings to suit all tastes - and, 

of course, incredible competitive 

socialising venues. 

Boom Battle Bar is our next 

destination and - WOW, what a 

place! The music, the vibration, 

the high pitch chatter, cheering, 

celebrations and noticeably 

competitive banter hits all 

senses as soon as we arrive. 

Our first session is on the Shufl 

shuffleboards - with half of the 

group experienced and the other 

half complete novices. 

“ The music, the vibration, 

the high pitch chatter, 

cheering, celebrations and 

noticeably competitive 

banter hits all senses as 

soon as we arrive. “ 

early check in and are immediately 

escorted to the bar to enjoy drinks 

before the games commence. 

All notions of starting with a soft 

drink disappear when The Oracle 

is handed the cocktail menu 

developed by mixologist Jon 

Calabrese - and a round of Summer 

cocktails are duly ordered. 

We are led to our booth and taken 

through the rules and techniques 

for the next hour of civilised, yet 

competitive, shooting. Photos are 

taken, game names entered on 

the big screen and it’s time to pull 

the trigger! Within five minutes, 

all niceties and non-competitive 

behaviour go out the window, 

and we suddenly transform into 

wannabe Team GB sharp shooters! 

By 12.30pm all booths are 

occupied, and both cheers and 

disgruntled moaning ricochet 

throughout the venue. More drinks 

are ordered and the tempting food 

menu created by culinary director 

of Clays and executive chef, Roger 

Olsson (formerly from The Ritz and 

The Dorchester) simply has to be 

‘tested’. Immaculate service and 

delivery to our booth ensures that 

no session time is lost. 

As the clock counts down - and 

despite great efforts - The Oracle 

lands at the bottom of our booth’s 

league. We want to reload for more 

action, but the waiting groups of 

hens, birthday celebrators, families 

and groups of friends means 

no chance of an extended stay. 

Instead, we make tracks across to 

the O2 for our next experience. 

The O2 is packed with visitors 

enjoying the massive entertainment 

hub that is home to the famous O2 

The Oracle was way too nosey 

to take in the instructions on 

how to play as we were led to the 

shuffleboard court, as they were 

transfixed by the axe-throwing 

arena. So much so, they had to be 

dragged back to rejoin the group. 

Shuffleboard is totally addictive 

and, from a beginners perspective, 

once you get it you are on a roll - 

or should I say glide? At the end of 

the hour the not so young newbies 

reigned supreme. 

What really made The Oracle beam 

was, not only the Pina Colada 

cocktail, but the diversity of ages 

enjoying Boom Battle Bar. The 

guests ranged from 5-100, with 

generations laughing together, 

getting involved and going into 

battle. Hens, Stags, mates, couples, 

young, old, in-betweener - Boom 

Battle Bar really has something for 

everyone. 

The atmospheric room is huge and 

encompasses everything sensetingling, 

with ambient lighting, 

huge TVs showing live sport, 

upbeat music, and countless 

arenas for different games - from 

axe throwing and golf to interactive 

darts and basketball. We settled on 

a game of American pool. 

As it turns out, The Oracle is about 

as successful at shooting pool as 

shooting at Clays. Perhaps joining 

the beer pong groups next to the 

American pool tables would have 

been easier... 

Distracted by the arrival of buffalo 

mac and cheese bites and battered 

‘prawn stars’, the session ended 

with The Oracle having zero wins - 

and one huge smile. 

After a truly inspiring day with very 

different experiences, our group 

bounced out, still high on the 

atmosphere. 

Now we are busy deciding where to 

go next! 

Want to be 

showcased next? 

Get in touch today: 

oracle@gamechangers.org.uk 

18 

19


The emergence of miniature golf 

across the UK has been one of 

the distinct driving forces of the 

competitive socialising sector. 

For one of the founding fathers of 

that movement, Hugh Knowles, it 

started with an ambition to bring 

the sport of golf to the 85% of 

people that would never consider 

spending four hours or so traipsing 

around 18 holes in unpredictable 

weather conditions. 

The miniature golf pioneer, who 

went on to become managing 

director of Puttshack, started his 

career in what he terms the ‘real 

golf’ industry. 

Hugh Knowles, Owner of Leisure Social 

After bringing miniature golf 

to the masses, Hugh is here to 

help Gamechangers members 

ace their own business ventures. 

After studying in the USA, he learnt 

the ropes at golf property company, 

American Golf (UK) as a group 

manager. He describes this as 

“an amazing experience because 

of everything I was exposed to. It 

taught me all the foundations and 

operating standards at a young 

age.” 

From there, he went to work 

for the Guinness-owned Burhill 

Group, where he was charged - 

and successful at - growing the 

Group’s 20-plus golf courses with 

a focus on memberships, retail, 

leisure, food and drink and health 

and fitness. 

Around the time of the financial 

crash, when UK golf memberships 

were dwindling, Hugh wanted to 

find a way to grow the appeal of 

a sport that maintained an elitist 

association - with wealthy men in 

V-neck sweaters. 

The Guinness family gave him the 

greenlight to construct a £600,000 

18-hole miniature set up at Abbey 

Hill Golf Centre in Milton Keynes - 

which was chosen for its family 

demographics. 

Hugh explains: “It was a beautiful, 

landscaped, 18 hole golf course 

with waterfalls and a pirate ship. I 

became the anti-Christ of golfers!” 

Despite his nerves about opening 

on a frosty October morning, more 

people played the course that day 

than the full 18-course that entire 

week. 

From there Hugh pushed on, 

opening more outdoor sites 

across the UK under the new 

Burhill subsidiary, Adventure 

Leisure. Indoor sites followed, 

with a growing emphasis on food 

and drink offerings as the space 

continued to evolve. 

His next move saw him join forces 

with Puttshack in 2018 after 

recognising how their technology 

would push miniature golf even 

further in the social entertainment 

world. It was here, whilst working 

alongside the Bounce managment 

team (now State of Play) that 

he discovered more about the 

challenges and opportunities of 

running sites in the capital. 

“I learnt huge amounts, especially 

the difference in markets, capex 

spend and ROI between the 

London and the regional markets, 

the wider corporate spend available 

and copious cultural differences.” 

Earlier this year he launched his 

own consultancy business, Leisure 

Social, to provide support to new 

businesses in the sector. He is 

also fundraising and working on 

bringing a new concept to market 

in the not too distant future. 

Hugh’s role on the Gamechangers 

advisory board ensures that his 

vast operational experience and 

know-how will benefit members. 

He continues: “It’s an establishing 

industry with some more mature 

players and some younger players 

coming through in the market. 

There’s an opportunity to help 

these new players come in and 

establish themselves. 

“If Gamechangers can help out with 

financing, real estate, suppliers, 

etc, then we can also offer some 

guidance and support as they 

establish their new concepts in this 

ever growing market.” 

“There’s a potential to provide 

more support with such a great 

stakeholder network, and to 

increase the voice for this sector.” 

And he fully expects the sector and 

that voice to grow in this country 

and then across the globe. 

“There will always be an appetite 

for new activities in this market. If 

you can get the minutia ingredients 

correct: make sure the drinks and 

food are amazing, the fit out is 

relative to the target market, the 

ambience, the lighting, the music, 

and it can be a super successful 

business.” 

There’s going to be a number of 

new innovations coming through, 

I think that will continue for a little 

while longer. 

“ The UK is still a 

hub for innovation 

despite the financial 

challenges of now. 

Then I see it moving 

out, potentially, 

into international 

markets. There are a 

lot of opportunities 

globally. “ 

After bringing golf to the masses 

for the first time, Hugh will now, 

in his role on the Gamechangers 

board, help other businesses 

achieve their own aims and bring 

customers through their doors. 

Sign up today for a 

GC membership 

www.gamechangers.org.uk 

MEET THE BOARD MEMBER 

20 

21


THE DECLINE IN 

3.7M 

Brits ruled out a 

specific venue due 

to poor alcohol-free 

options 

Does it surprise you that as many Brits moderated their alcohol 

income this summer as in ‘Dry January’? 

Many are planning to continue 

‘moderating’ their drinking across 

the upcoming festive season, with 

44% of Brits intending to drink less 

alcohol during Christmas 2023 

compared with 2022. KAM’s recent 

report, in partnership with Lucky 

Saint, found actively moderating 

alcohol consumption is now a yearround 

habit for UK adults. 

It seems that moderation has hit 

the mainstream! 

There has been a significant 

fall in the number of UK adults 

consuming alcohol at least once 

a week, with the figure now at 

76.9% (down from 90% in 2022). 

This equates to a drop of 6.8m 

people drinking weekly, with all age 

groups reporting a decline in overall 

alcohol consumption. Within the 

18-24 age group – a core age group 

for competitive socialising venues 

- the figure has fallen fastest, from 

91% in 2022 down to 72% this year. 

This coincides with a whole raft of 

new consumers entering the low 

and no category within the last year 

- with 9.7m UK adults (19% of UK 

adults) trying low and no alcohol 

beer for the first time. 

Moderation has most certainly hit 

the mainstream and it’s part of a 

bigger shift in how we, as a nation, 

are spending our leisure time. 

We now see a modern consumer 

where socialising is not as centred 

around drinking culture, who is 

more aware of the risks of alcohol, 

and therefore is pro-actively taking 

action to ensure that they are 

drinking at what they consider to 

be responsible levels. 

But consumers don’t want to miss 

out on all the occasions where 

alcohol is normally present – going 

to the pub with friends, celebrating 

a birthday at home, or enjoying 

a beer while watching sport, for 

example. The increasing number 

of low alcohol or alcohol-free 

options available is therefore being 

welcomed with open arms. 30% of 

Brits intend to consume alcoholfree 

options over the festive period 

e.g. alcohol free wine or beer – and 

this rises to well over 1-in-3 in the 

millennial age bracket. 

Despite this long-term growth in 

low or alcohol-free occasions, 

venues are still at risk of losing 

customers, by giving them an 

underwhelming experience and 

not maximising potential sales 

on these low or alcohol-free 

occasions due to poor range and 

visibility. 3.7 million Brits ruled out 

a specific venue in the last three 

months alone due to poor alcoholfree 

options: totalling a missed 

opportunity of over £590.4m 

in revenue across the year for 

hospitality venues. 

During a recent chat with Luke 

Boase, founder of Lucky Saint, 

he highlighted that “whilst the 

low and no market continues 

to see tremendous growth, the 

opportunity for the UK remains 

significant. We trail behind many 

European nations in how we 

embrace low and no, with the likes 

of Spain, Germany and Sweden 

having larger market shares for low 

and no consumption compared to 

the UK.” 

Simon Farrow, Category Director 

for Tao Hospitality Group (who’s 

portfolio includes Hakkasan), 

have already taken the bold and 

innovative step to ‘zero proof’ their 

entire cocktail menu, providing 

like-for-like equivalents across the 

whole range. Simon proudly states 

that “1 in 8 of our cocktails are now 

alcohol-free. That’s a £4 to £12 

spend increase compared with 

people ordering sparkling water 

when they don’t want alcohol.” 

Venues must ensure they stay 

ahead of the curve, or they risk 

becoming less relevant for many 

potential customers, particularly 

Gen Z and Millennials, who tend 

to make up the largest proportion 

of all competitive socialising 

venue customers. The research 

shows that socialising in the UK is 

gradually becoming less alcoholdriven 

and more activity-led. 


BOOZE-CENTRED 

SOCIALISING 

Katie Jenkins, Marketing & 

Partnerships Director of KAM 

22 

23


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25


DON’T 

MENTION 

THE C 

WORD! 

Anyone that knows me 

will tell you that I am 

basically The Grinch in 

human form... 

I refuse to acknowledge that 

Christmas exists until at least the 

1st of December, and I don’t really 

get into it until nearer the time. My 

lack of festivity doesn’t tend to play 

out well for my loved ones, who 

end up being gifted whatever I can 

get my mitts on at the last minute. 

However, for you, my dear 

Gamechangers, I am going to 

attempt to turn over a new leaf, 

and that means looking ahead to 

Christmas... in October?! My early 

present to you is (I hope) pertitent 

legal wisdom for when it comes to 

planning for the festive season. 

So here are my 5 

top-tips... 

1. Check your premises 

licence 

Your premises licence is always 

going to be the starting point 

for what you can and can’t do. It 

comes in two parts: Part A, which 

is the licence; and Part B, which is 

the premises licence summary. 

Part A should be kept somewhere 

safe - perhaps in the manager’s 

office - for using only as and when 

it is required. 

Part B, on the other hand, should be 

prominently displayed somewhere 

within your venue. 

“ Hint: your licence 

might contain a 

seasonal variation, 

which could assist 

you with any 

Christmas trading 

plans. ” 

2. Check the calendar 

Sounds simple, I know, and I have 

absolutely no intention of teaching 

people to suck eggs, but I am 

regularly approached by people 

who want to do something on 

short-notice and there simply isn’t 

time to get done what they need 

to get done. Whether that’s an 

application for a Temporary Event 

Notice (TEN) or an application to 

vary their premises licence, you 

need to ensure there’s enough time 

to get things sorted. 

Whilst on the subject of TENs, 

remember that the allowances this 

year are still at an increased level 

but will revert back to the previous 

limits in 2024. 

A premises can have a maximum 

of 20 TENs covering no more 

than 26 days (up from 15 TENs 

covering 21 days). A TEN needs to 

be given at least 10 clear working 

days before any event that you put 

on and this does not include the 

day of the event or the day that 

you give notice. There is scope to 

submit a limited number of Late 

TENs. These can be given at least 

five - but no more than nine - clear 

working days before an event. And 

the same rules regarding the day of 

the event/day of submission apply. 

You also need to remember that 

if you get an objection to a Late 

TEN that it is, unfortunately, “Game 

Over” and the event is unlikely to 

be allowed to go ahead. There is, 

however, no upper limit on when 

you can give a TEN so there is 

nothing stopping you giving your 

TENs for the festive season now! 

3. Carry out a risk assessment 

of what you want to do 

I’m a big believer in carrying out 

risk assessments. I think they are 

a great tool for a) planning ahead 

and b) for me to be able to defend 

people when things go ‘Pete Tong’. 

I always get a warm fuzzy feeling 

when a client comes to me in a 

bind and they come armed with 

a risk assessment. It allows me 

to show anyone that may be 

(presently) narked at them that 

they have turned their mind to what 

can go wrong and tried to plan 

accordingly. 

LICENSING LATEST RESEARCH ADVICE 

Luke Elford, Partner at John Gaunt 

& Partners Licensing Solictors 

If I’m a betting man, I reckon you 

have grand plans for the festive 

season, and that those plans 

include things that might be 

somewhat out of the ordinary 

for your venue. This is where you 

need to check what you want to 

do against what you can do. I’ve 

lost count of the conversations 

that I have had with clients where 

they’ve come up with something 

awesome only to be thwarted by 

their premises licence not allowing 

them, for example, to have a DJ 

after 11pm. Check now whilst there 

is time to do something about it! 

26 

27


everyone is up to date on those 

and that all your posters are still up 

and recent. If you are aware of the 

possibilities of something going 

wrong then those things are less 

likely to happen. 

WATCH VIDEO 

5. Have a chat with your 

licensing officer / police 

licensing officer 

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I know that some clients can 

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like vampires, feeling that if they 

invite them into their venues then 

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There are plenty of risk 

assessment templates out there 

on ‘the interweb’, but, please, 

please, please don’t just copy 

and paste one, or just stick your 

logo on the first thing you find on 

Google. Take a beat and make sure 

that you tailor the risk assessment 

to your premises and - most 

importantly - towards what you 

want to do. Nothing completely 

undermines a risk assessment like 

a section that deals with how the 

non-existent swimming pool area 

will be managed (yes, this actually 

happened). 

4. Welfare 

Welfare, in licensing circles, is high 

on everyone’s agendas and it must 

be high on your agendas too. There 

are few certainties in life – death, 

taxes, that my wife will be late and 

so on. Another certainty that I 

would add to that list is that there 

will be, in December, an article 

in the papers about Christmas 

parties gone wrong accompanied 

by a picture of someone passed 

out wearing a Santa hat. 

Customer welfare within the 

confines of your venues is your 

responsibility and falls, I would say, 

squarely under the public safety 

licensing objective. 

What can you do to improve 

customer welfare? Well, the answer 

is all sorts of things. One thing you 

might think about doing is having 

key staff members trained in 

customer welfare and vulnerability 

engagement (“WAVE”). Another is 

appointing a designated customer 

welfare officer whose role is to 

keep an eye on people and make 

sure people are having a good time 

and not in danger of overdoing it. If 

you operate welfare schemes like 

Ask for Angela or Ask for Clive then 

you may want to make sure that 

I always think it is worth letting 

your local enforcing authorities 

know what you are going to be 

doing so that they know what to 

expect. Forewarned is forearmed 

after all. My plea to you is not to rely 

on just having had a conversation, 

however. As our late Majesty said 

“recollections may vary” so I think 

it is important to follow-up any 

meeting you have with officers in 

writing and to invite them to agree 

what has been said. It provides less 

wriggle room down the line. 

So, there you have it 

My 5 top-tips for the festive 

season. I wish you all a happy and 

prosperous one – make lots of 

money and do the sector proud! 

Luke Elford is a Partner 

at John Gaunt & Partners 

specialising in licensing and 

will be providing a regular 

column for The Oracle. 

Luke can be contacted at 

lelford@john-gaunt.co.uk 

29


HOW COMPETITIVE 

SOCIALISING IS 

DOMINATING 

THE HOSPITALITY 

INDUSTRY 

A new breed of entrepreneurs are taking social gatherings, and 

indeed hospitality as a whole, to the next level. The competitive 

revolution has already transformed unused retail spaces and 

listed buildings into social hubs for the young and the bold. 

Some of your friends & colleagues 

may have suggested shuffleboard. 

Some family members may be 

keen to go axe-throwing. Maybe 

you’ve attended a mini-golf date. 

Whatever the weather, these 

immersive experiences are taking 

the nation by storm. 

Let’s look at the statistics 

around competitive 

socialising 

Less focussed on socialising 

around alcohol, the next generation 

are looking for experiences that 

can get them their money’s-worth. 

Recent research showed 49% of 

Gen Z’ers said their online image 

is on their mind when they go out 

socialising and drinking, so they’re 

focussing on experiences that look 

good for the camera. 

“ In fact, year-onyear, 

the number 

of photos taken in 

social environments 

increases 10-14% 

each year, meaning 

showcasing an 

experience is one 

of their key factors 

when looking for a 

night out. “ 

With 48% of Londoners alone 

aware of the term ‘competitive 

socialising’, the trend is snowballing 

as more customers and venues 

adopt the trend. 

How to adapt your venue for 

competitive socialising 

There are a range of activities 

that users are looking out for in 

an experiential night out, from 

traditional games, to virtual 

experiences, there’s plenty 

available to choose and excel at! 

Whether it be a new take on a 

classic table tennis table, mini-golf 

course or shuffleboard arena, or a 

more progressive activity such as 

axe-throwing, virtual reality gaming 

or escape rooms - the possibilities 

are endless. 

And what’s more exciting about 

this sector is that it’s possible 

for any venue to incorporate 

some competitive elements into 

their existing offering without 

completely redefining their 

proposition. It’s time to get in on 

the action and explore how you 

can maximise this large and ever 

growing nightlife trend. 

So I should just jump in? 

Well, almost. There are some things 

that venue owners should take into 

consideration before adapting their 

venue for competitive socialising. 

Our top three tips for you are: 

Get a decent booking system 

Competitive socialising activities 

are in high demand. Venues need 

to put in place a booking system 

to ensure the product is used 

efficiently and safely - and this can 

also help with recording usage. 

Increase security 

Increasing your offering and 

footfall can put pressure on your 

existing security. Review the 

potential risks of your current 

security setup, and ensure you’ve 

got a sufficient security resource 

available. 

Competitive socialising 

venue insurance 

Adapting your offering and 

bringing in new equipment will, 

unfortunately, have an impact on 

your insurance. However, talking to 

a competitive socialising insurance 

expert will ensure that you have the 

best cover at the most competitive 

price for any adaptations you might 

want to make. 

NDML are insurance specialists 

and proud supplier partners 

with Gamechangers, meaning 

our services are available at the 

best rates for all Gamechangers 

members. 

To learn more about keeping 

your venue protected and 

on the cutting edge of the 

industry, visit NDML.co.uk 


48% 

of Londoners are aware of the 

term ‘competitive socialising’ 

Oliver Calvert, Head of 

Brand & Marketing of 

Romero Group 

30 

31


REVOLUTIONISING 

THE CHRISTMAS 

WORK PARTY 

“ You don’t need 

to create a whole 

new business or 

rent an event 

space – you ARE 

an event space! “ 

Have you ever been to a Christmas 

party that hasn’t quite hit the 

mark? I’ve never really understood 

the appeal of paying a premium, 

deciding on what you want to eat 

from a limited menu three months 

in advance, having an (at best) 

average meal, and chatting to the 

3 people nearest to you before 

heading home. It seems I am not 

the only one. 

The rise in companies offering 

Christmas parties for hundreds 

of people in huge marquees 

with quirky costume themes, 

entertainment, casinos or race 

nights and more has been huge in 

recent years. But you have all that 

already! You don’t need to create 

a whole new business or rent an 

event space – you ARE an event 

space! 

Based in the ‘burbs of Hampshire, 

our company Christmas party 

options used to be incredibly 

limited without heading into a city 

centre, but the rise of competitive 

socialising venues has even 

reached us, and themed crazy golf 

and party darts venues are just 

down the road…and it’s about time. 

People want to be entertained – 

especially in the party season. 

They want something different, 

something experiential, something 

fun, and they will spend money to 

get it. With Christmas menu prices 

in a standard casual dining venue 

at £30+ for three courses (never 

mind the drinks!), companies, 

friends and family could instead be 

spending that on a fun, interactive 

night out with you that they will be 

talking about for years. 

Now, I’m not saying that you have 

to rework your entire menu to have 

Christmas themed Feliz Navi-dogs 

and Bauble Burgers - but adding 

a festive option to your existing 

offerings can give you some big 

wins this year. 

Time Trap in Reading have just 

launched their brand new race 

rooms, where two teams battle 

to be the first to escape – and I 

personally can’t think of a better 

way to pair team building with fun 

(but I am a huge fan). They have 

cleverly made these rooms so that 

they can theme them for Halloween 

and Christmas – with some minor 

tweaks – whilst also making them 

accessible all year round. 

After an hour of hilarity, people will 

want to carry on the party, so if you 

don’t offer drinks or food, make 

sure you collaborate with another 

business locally that does – cross 

referral works a treat for bringing 

you both customers you might 

never have found! 

Whatever you are planning to make 

the most of this festive season, I’m 

sure it will sleigh…sorry, not sorry. 

THE PUB PERSPECTIVE 

Against washout summers and set course meals for Christmas 

work parties, utilise your space with competitive socialising to 

boost your venue’s edge, come rain or shine. 

Summer 2023 in the UK was a 

bit of a wash out, let’s be honest. 

The late heat wave might have 

been great for smug staycationers 

with no kids, as they enjoyed the 

September sunshine in an empty 

Cornish pub’s beer garden, but for 

some of our hospitality venues, it 

was too little too late. 

For me, that is the biggest win for 

competitive socialising though… 

If it’s a bit grey and rainy, where 

better to go than karaoke, a bowling 

alley or sports bar? As we head into 

cooler weather, people start to plan 

for outings that don’t rely on clear 

blue skies, and never more so than 

during the festive season. 

Molly Davis, Head of 

Communications for BII 

32 

33


YOUR GUIDE TO THE 

12 MONTHS OF CHRISTMAS 

JAN - Party Time! 

Time for a big reset to prep for 

the new year. 

Throw a carefully planned and 

marketed NYE party of the 

century, wrap up any straggler 

events on Jan 2nd and sign off 

for well earned quiet period! 

Now’s the time to reward 

your hardworking staff, who 

missed out on all the fun with a 

generous party on you to help 

them ‘blow off steam’. 

that’s right - 12! 

FEB 

- Data Analysis 

This is your chance to examine 

the data. How did you do? 

What worked, what didn’t? 

Where are the missed SpH 

opportunities? What challenges 

and opportunities does this 

year’s calendar present? 

Now’s the time for a careful 

review of the season and 

to respond with a first draft 

business plan, including your 

intentional marketing budget 

for the festive season ahead. 

MAR 

- 

Opportunity 

Hunting 

As the darkness starts to lift 

and spring breathes new life 

into your energy reserves, take 

the opportunity to contact 

suppliers with your Christmas 

plans. 

The earlier you secure supplier 

sponsorships and deals, the 

more likely you are to benefit 

from their budgets before 

they’ve spent them. The early 

bird secures the print budget 

for their marketing assets. 

APR 

- 

Get Down To 

Business 

Time to revisit your business 

plan and nail down the details. 

By now you should have an idea 

of your Christmas offer and it’s 

target revenue and profitability. 

Explore as many partnership 

and supplier opportunities as 

you can, and take consultation 

on marketing strategies. 

Knowledge is power. Why plan 

with pure optimism, when you 

can define your spend, revenue, 

and profitability using proven, 

expert advice. 

Christmas comes early in hospitality - 

in fact it never goes away. Alex Lewis 

lays out the 12 steps to a successful 

Christmas, so you can schedule your 

optimal plans across the calendar year. 

MAY 

- Content Creation 

Content is king. Create it early. 

You can always produce more 

tomorrow, but if you miss 

the boat now you might find 

yourself taking blurry, panicked 

photos on your iPhone later. 

By May you should be: giving 

your creative team the go 

ahead; pre-buying digital 

ad spaces (before the price 

goes atomic); planning your 

digital and print ad ideas; and 

capturing all of the Christmassy 

photos and videos you’ll need - 

at a cut-price shoot. 

JUN 

- Build Your Bases 

Well here we are again.. 

Summer has just begun and 

it’s time to dust off the santa 

suit and pre-launch the early 

bird Christmas packages to 

corporate spaces. 

Hopefully you have a good 

database to work with. At this 

point you need a really good PR 

team behind you, and ideally, 

targeted digital marketing 

support to help you secure 

those early sales and grow your 

first party data base. 

LATEST INSIGHTS 

JUL 

- 

Prepping For The 

Public 

AUG 

- LAUNCH!! 

SEPT 

OCT 

- Sell, Sell, Sell - Get Tactical 

NOV 

- Christmas Mode 

DEC 

- CHRISTMAS! 

Keep the corporate push 

running in the background, begin 

awareness marketing to the 

public, and start your recruitment 

and resourcing journery. 

Even if the messages don’t hit 

the press yet, journalists have 

started making enquiries and 

you want to be one of the first 

they hear about from your press 

team. 

Exactly when your promotional 

team pull the trigger depends 

on your product, but by now 

everyone needs to know what 

the offer is and have their plan in 

place. 

Drop Christmas - hard! 

Newsletters, go live on your 

website, digital marketing, PR, 

print materials. 

Hopefully you have achieved 

a succesful pre-launch phase 

and towards the end of 

August you’ll move onto a less 

generous early bird offer. This 

is your chance to follow up and 

close warm leads. 

Depending on your plan, this is 

the busy reservation and upsell 

phase. You’re in the press, 

everyone is resharing your 

Instagram ads, your ticketing 

partner is reporting record 

sales... 

You should also be on final 

stage interviews with staff. If 

you’ve planned early enough, 

you should have a great pool of 

best-in-the-market individuals 

to carry you through Christmas. 

If you haven’t sold out the 

bulk of Christmas within the 

October period, that’s OK - but 

you should be making some 

serious headway by now. 

October is the time to get 

tactical: return to bookings to 

upsell; revisit leads that have 

dropped off; review your digital 

marketing, refresh your content 

and hone your offerings. 

With Halloween out of they 

way, your venue should be 

ready to miraculously switch 

on Christmas. Get ready to 

crack open the mulled wine 

and singlehandedly reduce the 

productivity of the average UK 

worker by about 25% for the 

next two months. 

Top tip: Check the performance 

of your tech early in the month. 

Your digital & PR campaign will 

be humming in the background 

to keep footfall coming in, and 

mop up any extra NYE sales 

whilst they’re at it. 

You’ll be too busy serving 

satisfied customers, checking 

Google reviews and responding 

gladly to glowing Facebook 

feedback to focus on much 

else. After all you need to be 

ready for NYE and to do it all 

over again. 

Alex Lewis, Co-Founder of 

Purists of Play 

34 

35


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they find you, your details – from 

physical address to phone number 

to opening hours and social media 

pages - are correct. This is crucial, 

as incorrect information can cost 

your business. Location Bank are 

the only platform to offer this data 

cleansing service. 

How do our services work? 

First up - We have to cleanse your 

data to ensure you don’t lose out 

on prospective clients. We run your 

details through our proprietary fourtier 

cleansing system to ensure all 

information is correct. 

Next, we apply our SEO solution 

to ensure your brand is at the top 

of any organic search result. With 

75% of all users going no further 

than the first page of resutls, this is 

the most highly sought-after place. 

Finally, we use tools like 

keystroke strategies and backend 

optimisation to push your brand 

forward during searches so that 

you are more visible. We know that 

extra clicks and views translate into 

more people in your locations. 

Why is consolidating your 

online presence important? 

Think about what you do when 

searching for a product: whether 

it’s a pub, restaurant, or the latest 

competitive socialising concept, 

you probably include the words 

‘near me’ in your search. When 

you allow Location Bank to create 

a single digital presence for 

your business, you increase the 

likelihood of it appearing in those 

‘near me’ search results. 

Additionally, consumers don’t just 

use search engines to find out 

where to go shopping. Research 

shows that 90% read reviews about 

products and services before 

purchasing, making reputation 

management mission critical. 

Simply put, maintaining a single 

digital presence makes it easier 

for customers to find you while at 

the same time establishing your 

credibility as a brand. 

But the benefits go beyond this: as 

a multi-location brand, changing 

information such as opening hours 

can be difficult if you don’t have a 

single digital presence. Location 

Bank makes changes for you in 

minutes, appearing across 98% of 

the world’s mapping platforms – 

saving you both time and money. 

How can you utilise data to 

ensure future success? 

You’re probably curious about your 

customer base – where they come 

from and how they found you - did 

they Google your brand, or did you 

come up as part of another search? 

Having visibility of this information 

is vital because it helps you target 

your audience more precisely. 

Location Bank helps you gather 

these insights through online 

analytics tools that reveal your 

brand’s views, actions, searches 

and social post performances - 

translating these into ROI. We even 

let you see how your competitors 

are performing, compared to your 

performance. We make all of this 

information available from a single 

dashboard for easy access. 

Plus, receive a 360-degree view 

of your online reputation and 

performance across multiple 

platforms, regions and locations 

weekly or monthly, either delivered 

straight to your inbox or through 

our online platform. All of our 

reports are generated in seconds 

in a ready-to-share format. 

What are common mistakes 

in establishing an online 

presence? 

Most people don’t realise how 

accuracy and consistency affect 

their ranking in online searches. 

In fact, these attributes are critical. 

As most Google searches are 

conducted on mobile devices, 

Google looks to rank and display 

businesses in local proximities 

according to how relevant they 

are to the search - and how active 

those listings are. 

An SEO-friendly venue locator is 

the first port of call for Google 

when searching for the most 

accurate location information – so 

if your details are not in the correct 

format, Google may skip over you 

when it returns the top search 

results. Many businesses shy 

away from rectifying this because 

they believe implementing this can 

be costly, but Location Bank offers 

affordable solutions for businesses 

of all sizes. 

James Hemsley, Managing 

Director of Location Bank 

Advertorial 

Finally, many businesses neglect 

to harvest information from their 

digital engagements. This is a 

huge lost opportunity. Those clicks, 

views and impressions can give 

you rich insights into who frequents 

your venues, when and why, and 

knowing this allows you to speak 

to your audience more accurately. 

Many businesses fall into the trap 

of ‘analysis paralysis’ because the 

vast amounts of data available 

can be intimidating – but Location 

Bank makes it easy to cut through 

to what matters, and all of this can 

be easily done through our online 

Reputation Management suite. 

Is social media important? Is 

a web presence enough? 

The fact is that you need both. As 

an operator, your brand’s website 

is the ideal space to offer deeper 

information about your business. 

Plus, it serves as a home base for 

all customer engagement, and it 

plays an essential role in boosting 

local SEO and visibility. 

That said, your social media 

presence is also essential, by 

supporting the information on 

your website, whilst featuring timesensitive 

information such as 

specials and upcoming events. 

Many business owners are put 

off by the thought of the work 

required to maintain a social media 

presence, but with the automated 

active engagement feature 

available on Location Bank, you can 

schedule and publish posts when 

it suits you—making it easier to 

maximize the impact your business 

makes on social channels and drive 

customer engagement and brand 

awareness. 


36 

37


SPORT FITS THE BILL 

AT BOOM BATTLE 

BAR 

Advertorial 

CASE STUDY 

“Sport is a real puller for us in terms 

of our proposition and forms part of 

our marketing communications. 

Customers come 

to play and enjoy 

TNT Sports live at 

the competitive 

socialising chain. 

Whether it’s axe throwing, karaoke, 

beer pong or interactive darts, you 

can do it all at Boom Battle Bar. 

The bar group has 28 sites in the 

UK, another on the way and has 

just opened up its first international 

venue in Dubai. 

As well as providing customers 

with some of the very best of 

competitive socialising, Boom 

Battle Bars are also great places to 

watch live sports. 

Guests can enjoy all the latest 

action on TNT Sports, whether it be 

midweek UEFA Champions League 

football, the best in domestic and 

European rugby or some of the 

biggest fight nights on the calendar. 

It means that customers stay 

before and beyond the allocated 

times of the activities they are 

taking part in. 

Marketing manager Emily Davies 

explains: “Sport is a really good 

example of an area we are really 

investing in.” 

“All the new sites that we open have 

projector screens and we try to 

understand where sport fits from a 

regional point of view, on a site-bysite 

basis.” 

With venues all across the country, 

Boom Battle Bar will showcase 

local teams as well as action that 

will appeal to general sports fans. 

It adds another element to a 

business that prides itself on being 

able to entertain all. 

“We are a chain of epic bars that 

has everything under one roof to 

bring people together to have a 

great time.” 

Emily continues: “It’s a one-stop 

night out. There are loads of places 

you can go where you might have 

an amazing cocktail but the DJ or 

the atmosphere might not be great. 

What we try to do is provide all of 

these elements and more under 

one roof.” 

She adds that the customer base 

and reasons for visiting varies from 

site to site. 

“Lakeside in Essex for example is 

massively popular for sport and if 

there is a big boxing event on you 

won’t get a table unless you book 

two weeks in advance. At other 

venues sport might be more of a 

secondary thought, where after 

a darts game you might want 

to catch the second half of a 

match, but here... 

“ We are 

all about 

atmosphere and 

nothing really 

brings people 

together like 

sport does. ” 

For more information visit 

www.tntsportsbusiness.co.uk 

38 

39


A CHRISTMAS 

M.I.R.A.C.L.E 

Bums on Seats are hosting their first-ever sales training workshop 

for individual delegates! 

This interactive sales workshop is guaranteed to drive those all-important bums on seats and grow both guest 

rapport & revenue, leading to all-year-round loyalty. Director of Training, Dee, will host the day and cover the 

following important topics: 

The Big Apple 

Understanding the “low hanging fruit” market 

opportunities remaining for 2023 and how to 

prioritise converting this business. 

Proactive people 

We will guide you through the most effective 

approach for proactively outreaching into your 

community to ensure a sell-out Christmas. 

NEW 

CHANGING 

THE GAME 

Want The Oracle to showcase or attend an opening? 

Get in touch today to appear in The Oracle & on our socials. 

Boom Battle Bar threw a banging party to celebrate the launch of their new Canterbury 

venue with the message to not get FOMO come down and see for yourself. The 

opening is the 29th from the rapidly growing group in the UK, with another site also 

recently opening its doors in Dubai. 

The Path Entertainment Group has secured the licence for Cluedo (Clue in the US 

and other territories) and will be opening venues following in the footsteps of their 

other brilliant association with Hasbro, Monopoly Lifesized. The location and dates 

are currently under wraps but The Oracle is keen to get on that guest list! 

The Everywhere Group has revealed that between November 15th and January 6th if 

you go to the railway archways in London’s Waterloo you will discover a secret, hidden 

and magical Christmas dive bar. Here you can join Santa at an immersive experience 

at his favourite watering hole, Humbug, as he attempts to get back to his good ‘elf’ 

following the pressures of the North Pole and his bustling workshop. 

Flip Out, the leading trampoline & adventure park, opened the doors of their new venue 

In Odense in Denmark, saying it is ‘Just the tip of the iceberg for our International 

plans…’ The soft launch on October 12th saw a queue of more than 300 people waiting 

to try out the coolest venue in town. The Oracle is going to watch that space… 

WHAT’S NEW 

Creating guest experience 

Practical steps to follow that will deliver a 

memorable guest experience. 

DETAILS: 

Wednesday 18th October 

10am - 5pm 

210 The Strand, London, WC2R 1AP 

£250+VAT per delegate 

Lunch and refreshments are provided, 

along with a digital version of our takeaway 

actions and tips to put straight into practice. 

Locking in the best possible lasting 

impression 

Why converting enquires quickly is so crucial. 

How upselling and increasing your SPH leads to 

improved guest satisfaction. 

Festive efficiency in sales 

Smart solutions to remain effective in the busy 

run-up to Christmas. 

Perfect for hospitality sales managers, sales executives, 

Christmas champions or operators who want to maximise 

Christmas pre-booked sales. 

More news from overseas as Topgolf opened in New England, USA on October 6th 

with a whopping 102 outdoor climate-controlled hitting bays, a full-service restaurant 

and more than 200 HDTVs. 

The Oracle was delighted to head to the relaunch of All Star Lanes 

in Westfield, Stratford. All Star Lanes have maintained the retro vibe 

we all know them for whilst combining a trendy food and drink offer. 

New food concepts will be ‘popping up’ shortly with street food menus 

including growing brand Hash Hut. 

Guests included local businesses and friends of the venue who were 

treated to welcome drinks and canapes. Monster provided 

a pop up bar with mixologists adding theatre to every 

cocktail including a scrummy no-alcohol mocktail. 

Meanwhile, guests were entertained by a live band 

and DJ who pumped out tunes. A relaunch they won’t 

forget! 

Limited spaces are available so email us at train@bumsonseats.org to secure your spot today! 

Get in touch today oracle@gamechangers.org.uk 

40 

41

LICENSING ADVICE 

INCREASE 

REVENUE. 

IMPROVE 

CUSTOMER 

LOYALTY. 

DIFFERENTIATE 

YOURSELF. 

Join Gamechangers TODAY!

The Oracle: Issue #2

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