Ten Entertainment boss predicts staycation-fuelled summer as bowling alley group reports 2020 loss

Ten Entertainment's boss is confident a staycation-fuelled summer will boost the bowling alley group as pent-up families look for ways to spend the holidays near home.

The leisure operator was shuttered for 49% of last year, and today reported a £17.7 million post-tax loss for 2020, compared to a profit of £9 million in 2019. Sales plunged by 57% to £36.3 million.

The firm, which has 46 centres around the UK and is burning through £1.4 to £1.6 million per month closed, plans to reopen all sites on May 17.

Chief executive Graham Blackwell highlighted the company’s remaining £18 million of headroom, and the fact that during its brief reopening last August the group bounced back to see comparable sales of 82% on the same period in 2019.

While closed the company has completed refurbishments executives believe will help entice families back, with 13 new “Houdini escape rooms” installed - including at its Acton flagship.

Blackwell told the Standard: “We’re in a strong place.

“We think the frustration of lockdown from December until now, and the fact that people unfortunately can’t go on holiday and are looking at sort of August time now before they can go, we think that there will be a great element of pent-up demand there from customers.

“Ultimately we’re a family entertainment centre, and the rule of six suits us down to the ground. It works really well for us, and our expectations [for summer] are really good."

In February 2020 Ten Entertainment like-for-like sales were up 16.7% on the same month in 2019.

Blackwell added: "Ultimately we want to get back to the growth business that we were pre-Covid.”