Zip World acquired in £100m deal: Outdoor adventure specialist Zip World has been acquired by private equity firm Dolphin Capital in a deal worth £100m. Zip World was founded by former Royal Marine commando Sean Taylor in 2013 and operates eight sites across the UK. Dolphin, whose investments include the Hemel Hempstead indoor snow centre in Hertfordshire, will take a majority shareholding in Zip World. Taylor will retain a minority stake while previous owner, private equity firm LDC, will exit having backed the business since 2018. Zip World has grown from a single site in Penrhyn in Wales – once the largest man-made hole in the world, according to Hudson – to eight locations across Wales and England. The latest, in London’s Olympic Park, will open next month. Zip World will take over The ArcelorMittal Orbit at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, following a £2.6m investment. The reopening of the ArcelorMittal Orbit will also see the launch of Helix, the world’s biggest tunnel slide at 76m high, which will see visitors travel at speeds of up to 15mph along a 178m-long track. Last year, the company welcomed 650,000 people, who enjoyed an array of activities from ziplining to underground mini-golf. The £100m valuation is equivalent to ten years’ worth of its historical Ebitda. Andrew Hudson, previously commercial chief, was appointed chief executive in 2023. The former boss of pubs company Punch Taverns, Giles Thorley, chairs the business. Hudson told The Times: “We don’t sterilise environments. We use the natural topography to provide the best experiences.” Latest accounts for Zip World show turnover increased 23% to £28,664,738 for the year ending 31 December 2022 compared with £23,542,833 the year before. Ebitda before exceptional items decrease £0.6m to £10.2m. Pre-tax profit was down to £109,299 from £1,868,367 as a result of increased costs and the reduction in government support. Zip World features in the Propel 500 report, an unparalleled resource that profiles the UK’s leading hospitality operators ranked by turnover – which is available now. This comprehensive report provides more than 90,000 words of analysis, delving into company histories, leadership structures, site numbers and financial performance, making it an essential resource for industry professionals. A list of the operators included can be discovered now by visiting the Propel 500 page on Propel’s website. The guide is delivered in two parts: an introductory PDF, featuring deep dives into the top 25 companies and 6,500 words of insight from Propel’s expert writers, and a fully searchable Excel sheet, offering easy access to all the data. Key highlights include Mark Wingett’s exploration of mergers and acquisitions shaping the Top 500’s future, Tim Street’s view of the UK’s franchise market, and Phil Pemberton’s insights into experiential leisure as a hospitality cornerstone. Katherine Doggrell examines developments in UK hotels, while Mark Bentley, business development director at HDI, identifies emerging growth sectors, and Maria Vanifatova, founder of Meaningful Vision, analyses trends in quick service restaurants Propel 500 is available now for £595 plus VAT. Existing Premium Club members can purchase it for £395 plus VAT. Premium Club members will receive the report for free on Friday, 28 February at 9am. Order the Propel 500 report today by emailing: kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com. A new report has also been produced by Propel on the fast-growing experiential leisure sector. 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 180 companies, 3,500 sites and a 35,000-word report. The report is available to Premium Club members. A Premium Club subscription costs an annual sum of £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Premium Club for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or supplier. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.

WHSmith in talks to sell high street stores as it focuses on grab and go operations: WHSmith is in talks to sell its high street stores as it focuses on its grab and go operations. The company said that it was “exploring potential strategic options for this profitable and cash-generative part of the group, including a possible sale”, in a statement yesterday (Saturday, 25 January). WHSmith said over the past decade, the business had become “a focused global travel retailer”, with its travel arm having more than 1,200 stores across 32 countries. The first of WHSmith's more than 520 high street stores opened more than 230 years ago, operating as a news vendor. It has since grown into a major high street and travel retailer. The travel retail business side of WHSmith – which operates from airports, train stations and hospitals – now accounts for more than 85% of its profit. The group has been focusing on grab-and-go after becoming a Propel Premium subscriber in May last year. WHSmith said there was “no certainty that any agreement will be reached”, but added that it would provide updates on the possible sale. WHSmith was valued at £1.5bn at the close of business on Friday (24 January). That figure represents the value of the entire group. Revenue from WHSmith's high street stores dropped by £17m in 2024 compared with the year before, but profits stayed the same after the business closed 14 of its stores last year. Speaking after WHSmith's most recent financial results, group chief executive Carl Cowling said: "Our UK high street business continued to deliver its strategy of managing space to maximise returns and maintaining a flexible cost structure.” Cowling told the BBC in 2023 that the retailer would not be opening any more high street stores in the UK. Instead, it would focus on UK airports and train stations, as well as opening shops in the US and Europe.