Hollywood Bowl reels in value-seeking families but says Budget impact ‘painful’
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The boss of Hollywood Bowl has said keeping its prices low has helped attract families looking for value-for-money entertainment but cautioned over the cost impact of “painful and unexpected” Budget tax measures. Chief executive Stephen Burns said the ten-pin bowling operator has held on to the post-Covid boom in leisure demand.
The company, which has 72 centres in the UK and 13 in Canada, reported revenues of £230.4 million for the year to the end of September, about 7% higher than the previous year. Compared like-for-like, which strips out the impact of new centre openings, sales edged up 0.2%.
Mr Burns said this came off the back of a “phenomenal” 2023, with the group managing to achieve another year of record sales as demand remained strong. “This year we managed to hold on to that post-Covid increase in people using experiential leisure,” the chief executive told the PA news agency.
“People are looking for value which is why we’ve been really careful with our pricing to make sure we’ve remained the most competitive offer in an increasingly competitive environment.”. Overall prices increased by 0.9% year-on-year, he said, with the cost of bowling increasing by 20p.
“UK families remain under pressure from cost-of-living challenges and we are proud that we can still offer a family of four a game of bowling for £26, even at peak times,” the company said. The average spend per person also increased during the year, to £11.05, which reflected people using amusement machines and buying more food and drink during trips to the bowling centre.
