Red Engine, the company behind Flight Club Darts and Electric Shuffle, has agreed a £60m funding package to help it expand across the globe after agreeing the lending facility from Santander, HSBC and Barclays.
Red Engine, supported by its franchise partners, State of Play Hospitality and NightOwl Entertainment, opened four new sites in 2023 across the UK, US and Australia including Flight Clubs in Glasgow and Edinburgh, taking the total Red Engine and partners estate to 25 venues – 15 owned and 10 partner-owned. it expects to have 33 sites by the end of this year.
State of Play Hospitality is leading the growth of the Flight Club brand in the United States, while all Electric Shuffle venues in the U.S. are Red Engine-owned. NightOwl Entertainment is the Flight Club franchise partner for expansion across Australia.
Ross Shepley-Smith, CFO at Red Engine said earlier this year, “As we head towards the 10-year anniversary of the first Flight Club, it’s incredibly rewarding to see the business grow from strength to strength. We opened two new Scottish venues in Glasgow and Edinburgh last year and our franchise partners opened a further two sites in Fremantle, Australia and Denver, United States. All our sites hit new sales records in 2023 and our newest Scottish additions to the estate far exceeded our expectations,” said Shepley-Smith.
“With a pipeline of eight more locations planned for 2024, we look forward to continuing to grow our brands, but more importantly, remaining focussed on our mission to make groups of friends everywhere ridiculously happy.”
It will open an Electric Shuffle shuffleboard bar in Manchester and New York with a Flight Club darts bar in Liverpool this summer with Oxford already planned for later in the year.
Zelmari Geldenhuys, associate director for strategic debt solutions at Santander, who has been involved with Red Engine since 2016, said that the company “continues to deliver impressive growth across multiple geographies.”
Ross Shepley-Smith, CFO at Red Engine, said, “For the last nine years, everything we have done has been with our customers in mind.
“Our in-house game developers, our interior and design teams, our venue teams of chefs, bartenders and everything in between, have strived to give people the best experience possible.
“It’s because of this that we’ve built such a loyal customer following, and it’s these customers that have made it possible to grow as we have done.
“Our mission has always been to make groups of friends everywhere ridiculously happy, and we couldn’t be more excited to continue that journey with this new facility.”
James Protheroe, relationship director for consumer industrials, at HSBC UK, said, “HSBC UK is delighted to continue to support the Red Engine group. This upsized facility will see the group build out its presence both in the UK and in the US, and further cement the already strong position enjoyed by the Flight Club and Electric Shuffle brands within the leisure and hospitality sector.”
Phil Richardson, hospitality and leisure director at Barclays said, “Red Engine are a great example of an innovative business in the hospitality sector. We’re proud to support them with lending to continue their growth, as they expand their business globally.”