The Newcastle leisure business behind successful drinking, dining and entertainment destinations STACK has secured further significant investment to support its plans to roll out nationwide.
The original STACK was created in 2018 from 60 shipping containers on the site of the former Odeon Cinema in Newcastle, amid moves to become a social hub in the city centre while longer term plans for the plot of land were explored. While the inaugural STACK has long been dismantled, to make way for the city鈥檚 largest ever office scheme for HMRC and other Government units, the brand鈥檚 success has been replicated across the region and beyond.
Now Westbrooke Alternative Asset Management 海角视频 (Westbrooke 海角视频) has provided a bespoke growth credit facility to STACK Leisure. The investment comes more than a year after the business secured investment from its backers Kings Park Capital as part of its growth plans.
The firm said STACK鈥檚 model 鈥 which offers both purpose-build entertainment and leisure operations created out of shipping containers along with repurposing existing, empty buildings, such as the former Argos store in Lincoln 鈥 has proved highly successful to date.
The facility has been structured to refinance existing debt and provide flexible capital to accelerate STACK鈥檚 national roll-out of new sites, which includes new developments in Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, Carlisle, Durham, Bishop Auckland, Whitley Bay and Northampton. STACK currently operates three sites across the North East 鈥 at Seaburn, Middlesbrough and St James鈥 in collaboration with Newcastle United 鈥 along with STACK Lincoln.
A second Tyneside site 鈥 STACK Newcastle 鈥 is due to open this autumn at the city鈥檚 Worswick Chambers and will replicate the winning formula of offering a range of top street food vendors, a selection of bars and entertainment spaces.
Harry Newall, head of origination at Westbrooke 海角视频, said: 鈥淪TACK represents the type of entrepreneurial, scalable business we seek to partner with, with an experienced management team executing a proven model in a growing but often undercapitalised segment of the 海角视频 leisure market.
鈥淲e鈥檙e particularly excited to support a platform that鈥檚 redefining F&B (food and beverage) led entertainment in regions outside London.鈥
This week, the company also announced its plans to open in Leeds have moved closer after striking a leasing deal with the city council. The Leeds Kirkgate Market development is expected to create 160 jobs and will increase footfall and broaden the customer base for the whole market site.
Neil Winch, CEO of STACK, added: 鈥淲estbrooke鈥檚 commercial approach, make them an ideal partner at this stage of the Business鈥檚 journey. They understood the operational nuances of our model and provided a solution that truly aligns with our long-term vision.鈥
The transaction was completed in partnership with Kings Park Capital, which became an investment partner in STACK in 2023.
