Hollywood Bowl Group

Last updated

Hollywood Bowl Group PLC
Company typePublic company
LSE:  BOWL
Industry Entertainment
Founded1960
Headquarters Hemel Hempstead, United Kingdom
Key people
Peter Boddy, (Chairman)
Stephen Burns, (CEO)
RevenueIncrease2.svg £214.8 million (2023) [1]
Increase2.svg £136.6 million (2023) [1]
Decrease2.svg £34.2 million (2023) [1]
Website hollywoodbowlgroup.com

The Hollywood Bowl Group is a company that runs the Hollywood Bowl branded multi lane ten-pin bowling and Puttstars brand minigolf centres in the UK and Splitsville bowling in Canada. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

Contents

An example of the score screen at Hollywood Bowl in Yeovil Hollywood Bowl Score Screen.jpg
An example of the score screen at Hollywood Bowl in Yeovil

History

AMF Bowling UK

The United States company AMF Bowling opened its first centre in the United Kingdom in Stamford Hill, North London on 20 January 1960. Between 1967 and 1970, AMF Bowling UK acquired its first 15 centres. After Goldman Sachs purchased AMF Bowling in 1996, the number of centres owned and operated by AMF Bowling in the UK rose in 1997 from 15 to 37. The company then embarked on a program to refurbish the acquired centres. [2]

In 2004 certain shareholders of the British leisure conglomerate, Bourne Leisure, acquired the AMF-branded centres in the UK. AMF Bowling UK then embarked on another programme of refurbishment and since 2007 had opened five new centres in the UK. [2]

The Original Bowling Company

In August 2010, AMF Bowling UK acquired the Hollywood Bowl business from Mitchells & Butlers PLC and combined the companies into The Original Bowling Company Ltd (TOBC), UK’s largest bowling centre operator. TOBC sold centres to 1st Bowl (now known as MFA Bowl) as part of the merger. [3]

In September 2014, Electra Private Equity acquired TOBC for £91 million. [4] In 2015, TOBC purchased rival Bowlplex. [5] TOBC itself then rebranded as Hollywood Bowl Group (HBG). After purchase of Bowlplex, the company phased out the Bowlplex and AMF branded centres and rebranded them (as the already its biggest brand of its three) Hollywood Bowl. [6] [7]

The pandemic and new ventures

On 15 August 2020, the company, along with other bowling centres and casinos, reopened all its centres after over four and a half months of not being able to operate. Two planned Puttstars opened for the first time as their original opening dates were pushed back due to lockdown. Rules to protect staff and customers were put in place to keep people inside of the centres from contracting COVID-19. [8]

In 2022, the company bought the Canadian Splitsville brand to expand out of the UK, with further openings and acquisitions to expand the Splitsville brand. [9]

Brands

Hollywood Bowl

A typical visit to the brand's facilities includes bowling, food, drink, amusements and pool. All of their bowling centres are equipped with at least 14 lanes, a licensed bar, Hollywood Diner and an amusements zone with a variety of games. [10]

AMF UK

AMF Bowling was a brand that was owned by a USA counterpart which was bought by the group and has been phased out, the Worthing centre was the last uk AMF branded site and underwent a £200,000 makeover in early 2023. [11]

Bowlplex

In April 2015, the Original Bowling Company announced its intention to purchase Bowlplex, subject to approval by the Competition and Markets Authority. By late 2015, 10 Bowlplex units were acquired by the company with most of the locations being rebranded under the "Hollywood Bowl" name. With competition concerns, six Bowlplex sites were sold to Tenpin Ltd in Bristol, Camberley, Castleford, Dudley, Glasgow and Nantgarw. [5]

Puttstars

Hollywood Bowl Group opened its first minigolf centre at The Springs Retail Park, Leeds in March 2020. [12]

Splitsville

Splitsville is a brand name that is used for the company's Canadian operations. [9]

Related Research Articles

Granada plc was a British conglomerate best known as the parent from 1954 to 2004 of the Manchester-based Granada Television.

Brunswick Corporation, formerly known as the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, is an American corporation that has been developing, manufacturing and marketing a wide variety of products since 1845. Brunswick has more than 13,000 employees operating in 24 countries. Brunswick owns major boating brands, including Sea Ray, Boston Whaler, Bayliner, Mercury Marine, Attwood, Lund, Crestliner, Mastervolt, MotorGuide, Harris Pontoons, Freedom Boat Club, Princecraft, Heyday, Lowe, Uttern, Quicksilver and CZone, among many others. In 2021, Brunswick reported sales of US$5.8 billion. Brunswick's global headquarters is in the northern Chicago suburb of Mettawa, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AMF Bowling</span> Bowling center operator and equipment manufacturer

AMF Bowling is a major operator of bowling centers and major manufacturer of bowling equipment.

American Machine and Foundry was one of the United States' largest recreational equipment companies, with diversified products as disparate as garden equipment, atomic reactors, and yachts.

Odeon Cinemas Limited, trading as Odeon, is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Norway, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsidiary of AMC Theatres. It uses the famous name of the Odeon cinema circuit first introduced in Great Britain in 1930. As of 2016, Odeon is the largest cinema chain in the United Kingdom by market share.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitchells & Butlers</span> UK pub, bar and restaurant company

Mitchells & Butlers plc runs circa 1,784 managed pubs, bars and restaurants throughout the United Kingdom. The company's headquarters are in Birmingham, England. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

A family entertainment center (FEC) in the entertainment industry, also known as an indoor amusement park, family amusement center, family fun center, soft play, or simply fun center, is a small amusement park marketed towards families with small children to teenagers, often entirely indoors. They usually cater to "sub-regional markets of larger metropolitan areas." FECs are generally small compared to full-scale amusement parks, with fewer attractions, a lower per-person per-hour cost to consumers than a traditional amusement park, and not usually major tourist attractions, but sustained by an area customer base. Many are locally owned and operated, although there are a number of chains and franchises in the field. Some, operated by non-profit organizations as children's museums or science museums, tend to be geared toward edutainment experiences rather than simply amusement.

Famous Players Limited Partnership was a Canadian-based subsidiary of Cineplex Entertainment. As an independent company, it existed as a film exhibitor and cable television service provider. Famous Players operated numerous movie theatre locations in Canada from British Columbia to Newfoundland and Labrador. The company was owned by Viacom Canada but was sold to Cineplex Galaxy LP in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gala Bingo</span> British casino company

Gala Bingo is an online bingo and casino offering under the ownership of Entain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinsetter</span> Machine used to set bowling pins

In bowling, a pinsetter or pinspotter is an automated mechanical device that sets bowling pins back in their original positions, returns bowling balls to the front of the alley, and clears fallen pins on the pin deck. Prior to the machine's invention, pinsetters were boys or young men hired at bowling alleys to manually reset pins and returned balls to the player. The first mechanical pinsetter was invented by Gottfried (Fred) Schmidt, who sold the patent in 1941 to AMF. Pinsetting machines have largely done away with pinsetting as a manual profession, although a small number of bowling alleys still uses human pinsetters. While humans usually no longer set the pins, a pinchaser is often stationed near the equipment to ensure it is clean and working properly, and to clear minor jams.

Rekom UK is a private company with an estate of 35 nightclubs and 12 late-night bars across the United Kingdom. Rekom owns the brand names of PRYZM & ATIK. Rekom called in administrators January 17, 2024 blaming higher energy prices and lower student spending due to the cost of living crisis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Dragon Centre</span> Entertainment complex in Cardiff, Wales

The Red Dragon Centre is an indoor entertainment complex in southern Cardiff, the capital of Wales. It was originally known as the Atlantic Wharf Leisure Village when it opened in August 1997. The complex features restaurants, cafés, a Hollywood Bowl bowling alley with arcade amusements, an Odeon multiplex cinema, a casino and an on-site car park.

Brunswick Bowling & Billiards was the business segment of Brunswick Corporation that historically encompassed the following three divisions:

Bowlmor Lanes is the upscale brand of ten-pin bowling and entertainment centers operated by Bowlero Corporation. There are currently 18 Bowlmor Lanes centers, nine of which are former AMF 300 centers and three are former AMF Bowling Centers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coast Entertainment</span> Australian operator of theme parks and other leisure venues

Coast Entertainment Holdings Limited is an Australian leisure company. It is most known for its operation of the Dreamworld theme park and the WhiteWater World water park on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bowlero Corporation</span> American bowling alley company

Bowlero Corporation is an American bowling center operator. It is the largest ten-pin bowling center operator in the world with over 325 centers, almost all of which are located in the United States. The centers have an average of 40 lanes compared to the U.S. bowling center average of 21 lanes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timezone (video arcades)</span> Australian entertainment company

Timezone is an international chain of family entertainment centres and amusement arcade centres based in Australia. It is owned and operated by The Entertainment and Education Group (TEEG). Outside of Australia, Timezone is currently operating in India, New Zealand, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zone Bowling</span> Australian operator of ten-pin bowling alleys

Zone Bowling is a group of bowling centers in Australia and New Zealand currently owned and operated by The Entertainment and Education Group (TEEG). Zone Bowling has 34 locations across Australia, and three locations across New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Namco Funscape</span> Arcade and entertainment complex in County Hall, Westminster, Central London, England

Namco Funscape, formally known as Namco Funscape County Hall, was a Namco amusement arcade located on the ground to basement levels of County Hall, South Bank, London. Originally opened as Namco Station in August 1997, it operated as one of the capital's leading family and corporate entertainment centres for 25 years, closing permanently in August 2021 due to redevelopment plans blocking a lease renewal.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Annual Report 2023" (PDF). Hollywood Bowl Group. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Company Info: The Original Bowling Company" . Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  3. "About The Original Bowling Company Limited" . Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  4. "Ten Pin Bowling Group Bought for £91M". Insider Media Ltd. 8 September 2014.
  5. 1 2 "The Original Bowling Company takeover of Bowlplex wins CMA approval". Leisure Opportunities. 7 December 2015.
  6. "U.K.'s Bowlplex Chain to Be Acquired by TOBC". Bowlers Journal . 22 April 2015.
  7. "The Original Bowling Company strikes to take over Bowlplex". 22 April 2015.
  8. "Coronavirus: How will bowling alleys and casinos change after lockdown?". BBC News . 29 July 2020.
  9. 1 2 "Hollywood Bowl buys Canadian brands in international expansion move". Independent.co.uk . 25 May 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  10. "New 14-lane Hollywood Bowl will arrive in style at intu Watford!". Vibe 107.6. 28 November 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  11. "Popular Worthing bowling alley undergoes £200k rebranding including new VIP lanes". Sussex Live. 20 May 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
  12. "Puttstars - New £2.5m indoor mini golf experience to open in Leeds". Yorkshire Evening Post . 29 July 2020.