Yorkshire leisure specialist expands after securing £7.5m investment

Bar group Roxy Leisure which offers facilities such as pool tables, bowling and mini-golf is set to expand after securing a £7.5m investment from Foresight Group.

Roxy Leisure, which operates sites under the Roxy Ball Room and Roxy Lanes banners, was founded in 2013, with Leeds based Matt and Ben Jones launching the first location in their home city which pioneered the trend towards in-bar activities and social competitive gaming.

The company currently has eight venues across Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Nottingham; offering pool, ping pong, beer pong, bowling, karaoke, shuffleboard, mini-golf and private hire. Their largest site to date is Roxy Ball Room Rainford Square - a 24,000 sq ft space situated in Liverpool’s popular Cavern Quarter.

The investment, which was made by the Foresight Regional Investment LP and the Foresight VCTs will be used in-part as growth capital, supporting the company’s expansion into additional locations across the UK with multiple openings planned in 2020, including Birmingham early in the New Year and second venues in Manchester and Nottingham.

Rob Jones, investment manager at Foresight, said: “Roxy demonstrates some of the most attractive leisure sector performance metrics we have seen and the growth of the business in recent years has been impressive. The company is well-positioned to accelerate its growth with the additional support and guidance that Foresight will bring.

“Matt and Ben have built a successful business with a good corporate culture and we look forward to working with them to take Roxy through the next stage of its growth.”

Matt and Ben added: “It has been a pleasure working with Foresight’s experienced investment team who understood our business quickly and demonstrated a strong appetite to support our plans.

“Their pragmatic approach and experience in working with businesses and management teams in our sector made them stand out as the right investor for us.”

The deal was supported by Blacks Solicitors LLP. Nigel Hoyle, head of corporate law at Blacks, commented: “I’m extremely proud of my team for being selected to advise the Jones family in seeking investment to take the Roxy brand to new heights.

“Despite the challenge of meeting a tight deadline, everyone involved at Blacks ensured the deal was completed smoothly.