North East boutique bowling company Lane7 has confirmed plans to launch three new sites in the coming months.
Lane7, which opened its first site in Newcastle seven years ago and now has late night bowling and gaming venues across England and Scotland, will open a new Leicester site imminently, with openings in Manchester and Bristol to follow.
The ambitious move comes at a time with those in the leisure and hospitality industry are suffering the strictest of the Government’s Covid-19 social distancing restrictions.
The enforced six-month closure of all six of its sites between March and August had put a temporary freeze on the group’s long term growth plans, but founder and owner Tim Wilks said the firm is keen to maintain a positive mindset, despite new 10pm curfew measures and other restrictions stopping households from mixing being put in place.
He said: “As an industry, we’ve experienced the toughest and most painful period imaginable. Openings in Leicester, Manchester and Bristol have been long in the planning for us and, without Covid-19, I’m confident most of these sites would have been open by now.
“We’ve been dealt the toughest hand possible in trying to maintain commitment to these sites during a period without trade on existing sites, so we’re excited to be in a position to now press on.
“Watching other leisure facilities open while bowling alleys had to remain closed was tough to stomach.
“Whilst we know trading conditions will remain challenging, we’re keen to get on the front foot and extend the Lane7 experience to big cities across the 海角视频.”
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Since opening its first 10-lane site across three floors i=on Newcastle’s St James’ Boulevard, Lane7 has gone on to open sites across Scotland and England, with its last new opening coming in Sheffield just before Christmas 2019.
The new openings are expected to create a raft of new full and part time positions in each location.
The opening in Leicester, due in October, is on the site of the city’s old train station and marks the company’s most ambitious project to date. There will be a number of independent street food style shipping containers added as part of the site.
The dramatic redevelopment is part of a new £50m Great Central Square regeneration scheme in the city.
Mr Wilks said: “The amount of times we’ve been able to start development work, and then been forced to stop has been a commercial frustration shared with everyone in Leicester in recent months.”
Lane7 has also revealed that it is the chosen partner for the Great Northern Warehouse leisure development on Manchester’s Deansgate, meaning it will soon take up the site being vacated by All Star Lanes.
The site in Bristol, in the popular Harbourside leisure district, marks the group’s southernmost spot in its growing portfolio and is expected to be open early in the New Year.
Mr Wilks added: “It’s huge thanks to the understanding of our delivery partners and stakeholders at each site that we’ve been able to return in such a positive manner. We have to stay cautious and understand there may well be more tough times ahead, but we’re really excited to be oiling the lanes again and bringing our unique brand of late night entertainment to more cities across the 海角视频.”