The privately-owned Lane7 blends boutique bowling with alternate gaming, tech-enabled experiences and a high-quality F&B offering to create a unique, late-night entertainment offering. Here, RLI sits down with company CEO Tim Wilks to speak about the evolution of the concept since its inception and what his plans are for the brand moving forward.
After realising there was a gap in the market for a reinvented ‘premium’ and ‘personal’ bowling experience, the Lane7 concept has grown to today operating 20 sites, with at least four more on course to open before March next year. Tim’s ambition is to open between six-to-ten sites per year depending on size.
The business currently operates three brands, Lane7, Level X and Gutterball. This will increase to five next year as the company looks to become a wider leisure entity with plans to operate across Europe.
Its most recent site launches in the UK include a smaller format venue at 11,000sq ft in Altrincham, a trendy and affluent part of Manchester, which has had a very strong opening. They also recently launched a site in Victoria and at the end of last month their Camden unit opened its doors. The Camden site in particular is an exciting one for Lane7, as it is situated in an excellent location next to lots of food vendors and late night offerings, but there are also retail outlets on-site, leading to more daytime traffic.
“We have a number of sites across the UK, but there are a few major cities in the UK where we do not have a presence. We have done a good job in identifying sites in those cities and they are the priority,” highlights Tim Wilks, CEO of Lane7. “We have also spent time across the summer, me and the senior team, travelling and visiting many cities across mainland Europe and we are now actively looking for sites for next year and the future, as moving forward we are looking to open more sites per annum in Europe than the UK.”
Outside of the UK, Berlin is home to the first Lane7 venue, whilst Dublin will become the second before the end of the year. Other locations have also been considered in the Middle East and the US and whilst these are not their main priority sites, if the right opportunity came along they would consider it, but for now focus remains on the traditional developed economies in mainland Europe.
Discussing the company’s position in the market, Wilks explains that it is difficult to remain on trend and relevant as consumer habits change at such a rate. He says that sites brought to market can now be out of date in three-to-five years, whereas previously this number was as high as 10 or 15. As such, they work hard to continue reinventing their venues. They are continuously identifying potential products and have scoured the globe looking for products and games as well as creating their own to complement their existing offers that customers will enjoy.
“Younger consumers are loyal but in a different way compared to customers in the last 30-40 years. They can still be wowed and entertained, but they are very knowledgeable about what they want and the standards they require. Regardless of this though, they fundamentally still want the same thing, a wow factor at the point of entry, great music and lighting and a high service level,” Wilks comments.
Two major areas of importance in the world of leisure and entertainment are those of social media and sustainability. In terms of social media, Lane7 concentrate on output that is not just click bait, but content that really enhances the brand. Ultimately, anything going live on social media must have relevance because when it is done correctly; Wilks feels it is a phenomenally powerful marketing tool.
“As for sustainability, we are installing solar panels on to units with our landlords’ permission and we have also sourced a pinsetter that uses a third of the electricity a traditional one does. Our ultimate aim will be to move to sustainable and green energy.”
“Ultimately, we want to give people a fantastic night out and it would be a poor show if we cannot have some fun doing this along the way.”
All of Lane7’s sites are bespoke, so no two are the same and this really sets the concept apart from its competition in the sector. Wilks and his delivery team are very passionate about how they create their venues and are proud of not having a cookie cutter format. He believes this has been pivotal in their success to date.
The ethos behind Lane7 is to provide fantastic venues with excellent service that ooze creativity. The business ensures everyone prioritises the customer experience and all aspects of the company are designed with the idea of delivering that. “Ultimately, we want to give people a fantastic night out and it would be a poor show if we cannot have some fun doing this along the way,” says Wilks.
“What lies ahead is more of what got us into this great position. We started with very little, have been very passionate about the business and worked hard. We want that to remain the culture throughout the wider team as we grow and continue along this exciting journey,” Wilks concludes. www.lane7.com
