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Fri 2nd Aug 2024 - Clays secures new £6m investment, lines up regional debut site |
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Clays secures new £6m investment, lines up regional debut site: Clays, the Imbiba-backed, indoor interactive clay shooting experience concept, has secured £6m of new investment to aid its further expansion and lined up its first regional site, in Birmingham. The business launched in London’s Moorgate in November 2021 and opened a second site the next year, in Canary Wharf’s West India Quay, at the end of 2022. The business, which was founded by Tom Snellock, secured £3m of funding from family and friends to launch the concept. At the end of 2022, it secured new investment from serial sector investor Imbiba to aid its further growth. It has now completed a £6m fundraise, led by French leisure and entertainment group Otium Leisure. This November, it will open the doors to its third venue, in Birmingham’s Piccadilly Arcade. The Birmingham location will allow players to decide between a semi-private peg or their very own private room, where they can choose from a collection of six, fully digitalised games. Transporting players to quintessential British shooting grounds, the games encourage a healthy dose of competition. Clays said that its unique software ensures “maximum precision down to the sub-millimetre, replicating the real-life sport in a truly immersive experience”. With a capacity for 500 guests, Clays Birmingham will be split across three floors in an impressive 12,000 square-foot space. Clays Birmingham will be home to eight traditional shooting pegs, four of which will be in private rooms. Each of these pegs will have their own designated area, allowing plenty of space for shooting, eating and entertaining. Guests will be able to order food and drink direct to their peg, from their very own kiosk. The company said: “As with Clays Canary Wharf and City, food and drink will be at the heart of the Clays Birmingham offering. Blending classic flavours with contemporary and innovative techniques, Clays Birmingham will deliver a premium menu that exceeds expectations of what the culinary experience at an activity bar is.” Snellock said: “The last 12 months have been an incredibly exciting time for Clays, and I’m so glad that we can officially announce our expansion into Birmingham. Piccadilly Arcade is a building steeped in history, so it’s fantastic that we can now be a part of that. We’re looking forward to welcoming guests into Clays Birmingham and continuing to grow across the country, this is only the beginning!” Ruben Cohen-Aknine, chief of staff of Otium Leisure, who led the recent investment, said: “Tom and the Clays team have built, in a short span of time, a leading brand in the competitive socialising space. Otium Leisure focuses on businesses with the potential to become category champions over the long run, and Clays is just that. We’re very excited to support this team at the early stage of the growth journey.” Earlier this year, Propel revealed that Clays was eyeing an opening in London’s Soho and had applied to open on the former Park Row site in Brewer Street. Talking to Propel on the back of the Imbiba investment, Snellock said that the company was looking at further expansion in London and overseas, and it had signed the IP on its hardware and game for the US, Canada, Europe, China, Japan and Australia. A new report produced by Propel on the fast-growing experiential leisure sector is now available to purchase. The report profiles the current shape of the experiential leisure market – including brands, estate size, trading type and geographical location and future trends. It provides a detailed list of UK experiential leisure companies including key staff and Companies House information. The report includes more than 190 companies, 3,500 sites and a 35,000-word report. Existing Premium Club members can receive the report for £395 plus VAT. The report will be made available for free to existing Premium members on Tuesday, 10 September at 9am. Email: kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to order a copy.
Esquires brand owner raises £320,000 to enhance digital offering and support franchisee growth and development: Cooks Coffee Company, owner of the Esquires brand, has raised £320,000 through the issue of 4,077,761 ordinary shares. The placing comprised the issue of 2,425,714 ordinary shares with UK investors, and the issue of 1,652,047 ordinary shares to New Zealand investors. The net proceeds will be used to provide working capital, principally to enhance the digital offering of the company and to provide a fund to support franchisee growth and development. Michael Ambrose, a non-executive director of the company, purchased 100,000 ordinary shares at NZ$0.20 each. This means he has a beneficial interest of 1,150,000 ordinary shares, representing approximately 1.79% of the issued share capital of the company. Paul Elliott, a non-executive director, purchased 75,833 ordinary shares at NZ$0.20 each. He now has a beneficial interest of 627,962 ordinary shares, representing approximately 0.98% of the issued share capital of the company. The company operates 66 Esquires in the UK, the latest having opened last month in Newbury, Berkshire. It also used to operate Triple Two Coffee but placed the 11-strong business into administration in October 2023. Propel revealed last month that Triple Two Coffee has been acquired out of administration by Mehdi Afshar, the chairman and chief executive of MFA Bowl. In June, Cooks Coffee said it was targeting 305 UK and Ireland stores by 2034, as it focuses its expansion plans on the UK. Esquires features in the Propel UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database, which is an exhaustive guide to the companies offering a food and beverage franchise in the UK and is available exclusively to Premium subscribers. The database is updated every two months and the latest version features 260 businesses. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The single subscription rate is £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription.
Greenclose Hotels reports boost in turnover and profit, pays more than £1m in dividends: Greenclose Hotels has reported a boost in turnover and profit in the year to 31 October 2023 and paid more than £1m in dividends. The company, which operates Careys Manor Hotel and Senspa in Brockenhurst, the Montagu Arms Hotel in Beaulieu, and the Imperial Hotel in Llandudno, saw its revenue climb from £16,109,765 in 2022 to £16,533,804. Its pre-tax profit grew from £190,211 in 2022 to £474,763. This included a £503,373 loss listed as a provision against intercompany balance under exceptional items. Dividends totalling £1,174,076 were paid (2022: £350,000). Director John Leach said: “Whilse the covid-19 pandemic seems some time ago now and memories are fading as to the immediate impact that it had, the longer-term economic impact that it, combined with Brexit and the war in Ukraine, are significant on the hospitality sector and on the UK economy as a whole. The shortage of labour created by Brexit and compounded by covid-19 is still being felt across the hospitality industry, coupled with what has been a highly inflationary economy. This will continue to put pressure on the company's cost base, along with a considerable uplift in minimum wage. Notwithstanding the above factors, revenues have the potential to be resilient. It is acknowledged that constrained consumer spending resulting from those inflationary forces combined with unpredictable UK weather and a post ‘staycation boom’ slump, has the ability to negatively impact the company's revenues. Nevertheless, there are opportunities to generate upsides for businesses and a greater focus on the wellness market will assist greatly. In light of these and other future uncertainties, our continued focus is to make the businesses more agile, more flexible and more efficient, investing in market leading technology wherever possible, in order to maximise profitability and cash reserves throughout the coming few years. This focus on efficiency, which we expect to have no negative impact on the guest experience, coupled with our continuing commitment to providing excellent customer service, high quality facilities, and actively maintaining and improving our hotel properties, will help us maintain our market leading position into the future in each of the company's locations.”
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