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The Continued Growth of the UK Leisure Landscape

30th March 2023

LeisureVision Location Intelligence data shows UK leisure landscape is continuing to grow

Exploring the Continued Growth of the UK Leisure Landscape

In the past decade, leisure-based consumption has increasingly taken up a larger proportion of household spending in the UK. In 2021, we launched our first Leisure location intelligence data proposition, LeisureVision, as we were witnessing increased demand from leisure-operators and retailers that wanted to observe how leisure sits in parallel to their estates. Two years on, and the growth and focus on the leisure sector doesn’t seem to be slowing down. 

Keep reading on to discover the recent leisure trends, drawn from our LeisureVision product, and some key brands to watch out of in the UK leisure market!

Background: How Retail Decline Carved a Hole for the Leisure Operators to Fill

At the start of the millennium, retail destinations with the occasional meal or cinema trip were the epicentre of a day out. Whereas now, leisure is often the driver of the trip out. Prior to the pandemic we were in the midst of a “Retail Apocalypse”, which was exasperated when retailers were forced to close their doors as Covid-19 hit. During this period online shopping became ever more vital, general retail spending pivoted towards Grocery and Homeware sectors, with some exceptions of the more obscure lockdown-centric trends that emerged – e.g. loungewear, hot tubs and Peloton bikes. 

Ultimately, general high street retail suffered. This was exemplified by the loss of the Acadia Group brands in the first quarter of 2021 when they went into administration. This combined with further losses since the pandemic, such as with the decline of department stores, including the likes of Debenhams, have left large, ‘leisure size’ floorspace holes in our high streets.

2 Years On: The Continued Growth in Leisure

Since we launched our LeisureVision data product, Leisure has sustained growth. Between the latest release of LeisureVision in H1 2023 and the prior release in H2 2022, there has been an overall 2% increase in LeisureVision Points in this 6-month period. 

Entertainment locations have witnessed the highest growth of 3.1%, followed by Food & Beverage with 2.1%, Sports & Fitness with 1.9% and Competitive Socialising with 0.8%. 

How the UK Leisure Market has Sustained Continued Growth

Despite the ongoing cost-of-living crisis we are currently facing, eating out and leisure-based experiences with friends and family, outside of the home, have remained a priority for many. In February 2023, The Guardian reported that “UK households ordered 12% less takeaway food in January than a year before”. Perhaps, after a few years of dining-in and Zoom-based socialising, UK households are not yet willing to return to hibernating on their sofas! Are those that are feeling the squeeze of the current economic environment, prioritising spending on leisure-based consumption rather than retail goods? Furthermore, perhaps leisure-operators that were forced to take precautions during the Covid years, and avoided opening new sites during such uncertain times, are beginning to focus more on their estates. 

7 Growing Leisure Brands to Watch Out For

From LeisureVision, we have identified 7 growing leisure-that are defying odds even during economic turbulence:
Lane7 are a growing UK leisure operator
Lane7
Lane7 currently has 11 venues in 11 different cities! With sites in Manchester, Sheffield, Durham, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Leicester, Aberdeen, Bristol, Liverpool, Birmingham and Bath, it is great to see such a widespread network for this fast growing competitive socialising brand! With 5 more venues to “Bowl, Play, Feast and Drink” on the way, including in London and Dublin, we look forward to seeing how this bran d continue their growth.
Lane7 are a growing UK leisure operator
CLUB 3000 BINGO
Club 3000 Bingo is the 3rd largest bingo chain, and the largest independent bingo club operator in the UK. Having started from 1 site in 2006, they now have 22 sites across the UK and one more set to open in Blackpool this year. Their innovative approach to new sites, focused on new purpose-built flat-floor sites, makes them stand out from the bingo clubs that historically opened in converted cinemas. 
Crosstown have been successful in their location planning strategy
CROSSTOWN DOUGHNUTS
From a market stall in 2014, Crosstown has come a long way with 16 locations that continue to offer doughnuts of the highest quality – fresh and hand-rolled daily! With 11 London Stores and 4 Regional Stores, as well as trucks, market stalls, Scoop Bars, concessions, and stockists such as Liberty London and Whole Foods – its safe to say Crosstown is enroute to success. 
Crosstown have been successful in their location planning strategy
PIZZA PILGRIMS
Pizza Pilgrims, launched with just two credit cards and a van by two brothers, opening their first pizzeria in 2013. They were scouted by a landlord to open in Carnaby Street’s infamous Kingly Court, which provided an incubator for the brand’s growth. Their lockdown “Pizza in the Post” has also been a big driver of their UK growth and has continued post-lockdown. With over 20 locations, they are now targeting their expansion outside of London!
Crosstown have been successful in their location planning strategy
ATTENDANT COFFEE ROASTERS
Attendant Coffee Roasters have a less conventional attitude to site acquisitions, with their first location which opened in 2013 being in a disused Victorian toilet in Fitzrovia! The focus of Attendant is trying to get people out of their normal routine to refuel, and focus on creating a unique experience in each store. They now have 5 sites across London, each telling a unique story all the while serving great coffee and food! 
Crosstown have been successful in their location planning strategy
HERBIES PIZZA
Herbies Pizza is not necessarily a new brand; they have been established for over 20 years offering delicious fresh pizza takeaways. They have grown in a relatively short period of time into a franchise network of 22 sites in the UK, mainly located in the South-East. It will be interesting to see how Herbies Pizza’s franchise network continues to grow. 
Crosstown have been successful in their location planning strategy
BOB & BERTS
Bob & Berts started serving coffee in Portstewart in Northern Ireland in 2013, and have since opened in more outlets in Northern Ireland, followed by Scotland, and have more recently started opening in England. As opposed to many chains, they have concentrated their growth on towns, rather than cities. With 25 sites, they have come a long way in the past 10 years and it will be interesting to see their continued growth strategy.

What is LeisureVision?

Our LeisureVision is the source of all of this interesting data. LeisureVision is made up of LeisureVision Points (location data of leisure operators) and LeisureVision Destinations provision which is:

Designed to help stakeholders understand the current leisure landscape to enable smarter location and business decisions.

LeisureVision Points is a competitively price dataset of over 250,000+ leisure locations across the UK. Points is a comprehensive dataset of locations across 4 product types including Food & Beverage (F&B), Entertainment, Competitive Socialising and Sport & Fitness. Each Point is also assigned to one of over 100+ categories. The attributes associated with each point are: Name, Brand, Location, Product & Category.

LeisureVision Destinations is built using a hexagon geography. Destinations include a count of the Points within the hexagon’s geofence, and an Opportunity Score which facilitates ‘next best’ location analysis.

Applications of LeisureVision

LeisureVision location intelligence can be used to help leisure operators, or any stakeholder that requires an understanding of the leisure market, to make informed decisions and meet the business requirements of their proposition. Here are some examples of how LeisureVision can be used:
  • Rank the Opportunity for Leisure activities around the UK.
  • Objectively support business decisions and site feasibility assessments.
  • Benchmark your locations against affinity or competitor brands.
  • Site performance analysis across your portfolio.
  • Add additional context to the to the drivers of footfall.
LeisureVision can be delivered as a standalone dataset, as part of a consultative project, or can be further brought to life through our MVPLUS mapping tool.

Applications of LeisureVision

Key decision makers across multiple functions of different types of organisations, including; insight, marketing, property acquisitions, estate management, or location planning teams could benefit from using LeisureVision. 

LeisureVision is applicable to many sectors, including, but not limited to:
  • Retailers
  • Food & Beverage Operators
  • Sport & Fitness Brands
  • Leisure-Based Retailers
  • Town Planners
  • Property Developers
  • Transport Operators
  • Marketing Agencies
  • Consultancies

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