Entrepreneurial duo set to bring The Great Escape to Leeds

A new escape game centre is due to open in Leeds this autumn.

The Great Escape will be launched this September after Leeds City Council approved plans for the refurbishment of the unit located at Atlas House, King Street.

The works include refurbishing six rooms for the game or games, and creating a reception space and bar area.

Escape games involves a group of people tackling a physical adventure game where they are ‘locked’ in a room and have to find and solve clues and puzzles to escape within the set time limit.

The Great Escape in Leeds will also include a bar and corporate area for team building.

To support the business, owners Hannah Duraid and Peter Lacole joined Entrepreneurial Spark which is backed by partners NatWest, KPMG and EMC.

The programme offers free office space in its Hatchery located just off the Headrow in Leeds for early stage and growing businesses seeking support from a network of mentors and fellow businesses.

Hannah and Peter already run a Great Escape site in Sheffield which opened in January 2015.

Hannah said: “After great success in Sheffield, we have chosen to open in Leeds as it is a highly creative, thriving city where puzzle rooms have already proved popular.

“However, we are excited to break the puzzle room mould and bring a next level escape game concept by focusing on creating an immersive experience that you will want to tell your friends about.

“Furthermore, Leeds is also a booming business hub and we look forward to offering a unique team building alternative. Unlike shooting each other with paintballs or having your employees loose concentration in a long boring powerpoint presentation, The Great Escape Game puts your workforce’s team-working, problem solving and time management skills to the test.”

Hannah added: “I met Dale Sidebottom, NatWest’s Entrepreneurial Development Manager, at an event where he talked about Entrepreneurial Spark and it just seemed like a great opportunity for us to develop the business as it’s the UK’s largest business accelerator programme.

“Leeds is a short train ride from Sheffield and we have learned so much from the teams on site as well as the other entrepreneurs. It has really helped us develop the business for the future.”