ANYONE who has walked through a UK city centre recently will not disagree with the assertion by Lane7 founder Tim Wilks that our ‘high streets need reimagining’.
For his part, Mr Wilks is now busy doing some of that brainwork, pushing ahead at an ‘unrelenting’ pace with the expansion of a new breed of hospitality venues that marry a food and drink offering with a hi-tech gaming entertainment – and often do so on real estate that was once exclusively retail.
Having moved on from conventional pubs to establish the successful chain of Lane7 ‘high-end bowling’ venues around the country, Mr Wilks recently opened the first ‘Level X’ venue in Glasgow, in a large former retail unit in the St Enoch shopping mall, offering visitors a range of digitally enhanced gaming experiences, from physical old favourites with better lighting – like the aforementioned bowling, alongside indoor golf and basketball cages – to almost entirely virtual reality experiences.
The success of that Glasgow operation has given him confidence to open more venues, including two new London sites and the group’s first outside the UK, in Dublin, while taking the hi-tech gaming concept further and faster by introducing an indoor go-karting format, which will again use vacant retail volumes in city centres, augmenting physical racing with a digital overlay that will link the cars and allow in-game interaction reminiscent of the video games that whole generations of customers grew up with.
Mr Wilks said: “When we launched the Lane7 brand ten years ago in Newcastle, the insane customer response immediately told us we had a pioneering concept that other locations across the UK would love.
“Every new site opening has enabled us to push the boundaries further than what even I thought possible. Every time, the customer demand has told us to keep pushing to introduce new experiences and concepts. We’ve been imitated many times over, which is unbelievably flattering, but every new opening, and our breathless expansion plans, show that we remain way ahead of the competition.
“The growing team here consists of some of the best creative and operational brains in hospitality. We remain fiercely independent, so their shackles are off and the possibilities are endless,” said Mr Wilks. “Making plans for an aggressive European offensive and to land hard in London with two sites this year is an enormous statement of intent. We dream big and then deliver. It’s what we do.”
The next Level X site due to open in Middlesbrough in the first half of 2023 would, said Mr Wilks, be ‘even bigger and better’ than Glasgow unveiling the never-before-seen ‘Drift Hall.’ He explained: “This is an indoor karting track, but all karts are electronically synced. Racers will be able to drop virtual banana skins, leave virtual oil patches or throw virtual bombs that will have the ability to physically slow or stop rival racers.
“It’s a mind-bending concept, mixing virtual and real-world experiences. Level X is the future of entertainment today.”
He concluded: “We’ve reached a stage where there is not only continued huge demand for our product, but also an expectation from our customers that we keep pushing the boundaries of late-night socialising. Culture evolves, and our high streets need reimagining. Our expansion plans keep us firmly at the forefront of UK hospitality.”
