Page 25 - #182 June 2023

reated by Michael Harrison, Harvey Jenkinson and Simon launched Gravity Max concept. The idea behind this is that the attraction
Whicker, Gravity Active Entertainment remains the is family-orientated during the day but then come 8 or 9pm, the lights go
Cfastest-growing leisure and active entertainment company down, the music goes up and the venue turns into a young adult-themed
in the UK. location until 1am.
Beginning life as a single trampoline park in Yorkshire, the business “But also at these sites we are installing workspaces. We have two
has come a long way in a short space of time. When they were setting rooms where up to 50 people can work at a time, so people can come
up this first trampoline park, the initial idea was that malls needed and get some work done for a few hours before enjoying an hour or two
something more, they needed to evolve to incorporate leisure on a of fun together. We are really looking at an inclusive offer that features
larger scale. the family, the young adult and the corporate markets,” adds Harrison.
“Even back then, I always knew that multi-choice, multi-leisure was In total the company now operates 27 entertainment parks with the
where we wanted to take this concept,” explains Michael Harrison, vast majority in the UK for now. Internationally, they operate a site in
Co-Founder and CGO of Gravity Active Entertainment. “So over time Germany, one in Saudi Arabia with another on the verge of opening
we began to add additional elements to the core concept. First there and they are in the process of building a 130,000sq ft site in Mauritius.
was climbing, then we added golf and we focused heavily on the 4-12 Looking ahead, the Middle East and Mauritius are the major markets
year old market.” they are looking into.
Always looking forward and remaining innovative, during the With the business practically doubling in size ever year, Harrison
pandemic the company constructed the 75,000sq ft Gravity admits that one thing they have struggled to do properly is its social
Wandsworth site which has been a real game-changer for the business. media marketing. While they did this in-house, the opening of Gravity
“We looked forward at how we could improve on what already Wandsworth made them have a rethink as the company continued to
existed in the market and Gravity Wandsworth has doubled the grow at a frenetic rate. They have teamed up with BWP who now help
revenue expected and added 25 per cent footfall to the overall Gravity execute their marketing plan across every social media outlet,
shopping centre. This site has really set us up as a company to do something the Co-Founder admits they probably should have done
exactly what I’ve wanted to do, which was the incorporation of multi- some time ago.
use leisure all under one roof.” When we ask Harrison what the key drivers are behind the success of
Off the back of the success of this location, landlords and franchise the business, he immediately says it is the people and the team they have
partners from around the world have been in touch, with the team built over the last nine years.
currently working on the upcoming 100,000sq ft Liverpool ONE “It is about making sure our team feel rewarded, feeling like they are
site which is due to launch this summer and the 70,000sq ft unit in part of a bigger team and making sure there is no one less important
Westfield Stratford. in our business. Across all 1,000 team members, there is no one more
Utilising the lessons learnt from the Wandsworth location, the team important than anyone else and it is this team that make the difference
has a much better understanding as it moves forward with the Liverpool between us and the rest.”
ONE site, its biggest Gravity location to date. With Michael working on the pipeline of new sites, our time with him
“With Liverpool ONE we will have a location that is perfect for was quickly coming to an end so our last question was to ask what lies
summer weather with a rooftop area of 7,500sq m that features a ahead and what does he feel is the greatest challenge facing the business?
retractable roof, three bars, two DJ areas, three live music stages and “I think complacency and probably getting too big for our boots would
a food hall. From an experiential point of view, we are now moving the be our biggest risk, especially given how fast we have and continue to
business on from leisure that is supported by F&B, to a really strong grow. However as long as we stick to the values of hard work, dedication
leisure and F&B mix and we feel this will take the business to another and honesty which are the core of the business, then we won’t go far
level,” Harrison explains. wrong,” Harrison concludes.
The Liverpool ONE unit will also feature the company’s recently www.gravity-uk.com

Pushing the Boundaries