Half year profits dip for Hollywood Bowl

Hollywood Bowl, which has centres at Bentley Bridge, Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury, had a 3.3 per cent increase in revenue to £69.2 million with the profit figure down 6.7 per cent to £15.3m from £16.4m a year before.

The group closed all its sites on March 20 due to the spread of coronavirus and had carried pout extensive cleaning and social distancing measures in the lead up to Government lockdown

Chief executive Stephen Burns said: "We are very pleased with the strong financial and operational performance achieved in the first half, including the positive reaction to our new mini golf concept Puttstars, up until the impact of Covid-19 began to take effect.

"Since the estate shutdown, we have taken a number of mitigating actions to preserve cash, further strengthen our balance sheet and to ensure we are as well positioned as we can be for when it is possible to reopen.

"Prior to closing our centres, we had put in place a number of measures for our customers and teams' safety. Our priority is to make sure that, once we reopen, our teams and customers can enjoy our unique leisure experience once again while feeling reassured that we will be taking every possible precaution for their health and continued welfare. We remain confident in the long-term strength of our business model and our ability to deliver our simple customer focused growth strategy."

Three Hollywood Bowl refurbishments were completed in the first half of its financial year with the continued roll out of a new scoring system which is now in 40 centres

Hollywood Bowl York and Puttstars York have been completed ready for opening post lifting of Covid-19 measures.

The reopening strategy includes social distancing with use of only alternate lanes, pre-booking only for peak periods, queue control measures and increased distance between bar and diner tables and operational amusements machines.

There will be reduced opening hours for off-peak periods and a reduced food and drink menu.