Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 11th October
Alice and Ben discuss a new cricket-themed bar in Bristol, the relocation of a video game start-up, plans to redevelop a historic Cardiff building into a leisure venue and soaring profits at Birmingham airport.
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00:00A new cricket themed bar in Bristol, relocation for a company behind a popular golf game and
00:05soaring profits at Birmingham Airport.
00:08That's all coming up on today's Business Briefing.
00:16My name's Alice Bird.
00:17I'm Ben Butler.
00:18So Ben, what's going on in your patches today?
00:20Yeah, so we've got a new cricket party bar concept, Six's Social Cricket.
00:25Oh yeah, I've heard of that before.
00:27Yes, it's set to take over a prime spot in Bristol's Harbourside.
00:32So essentially Six's is a pioneering social cricket activity bar and it aims to bring
00:38people together through the thrill of the sport and also socialising.
00:43So the concept offers a tech-enabled batting challenge with competitors testing their skills
00:48against some of the world's finest virtual bowlers and the venue will also boast a bar
00:54specialising in craft beers and cocktails and that will be alongside an all-day menu
00:59of burgers and shareable plates.
01:03So the new venue will join those in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Headingley, Brighton,
01:08Leicester, Oxford, Southampton and Guildford.
01:11So it has a real presence UK-wide and it's also got an overseas presence as well.
01:18So further afield it's taken hold in Dallas in Texas and this summer it also launched
01:23in Trinidad in the West Indies as well.
01:27So it'll be launching on the 14th of October on the Monday and I believe you know someone
01:33in Manchester?
01:34Yeah, my brother actually went to the Manchester one for his friend Stag Do.
01:40So a nice option for your Stag Do.
01:42Yeah no, absolutely, that's next year so it's certainly one to consider and it's a great
01:46idea for families and friends if they plan to get together and socialise.
01:50Those things are always easy aren't they?
01:52Yeah, and it's Christmas party season round the corner and on that note bookings are now
01:57live as well so if you fancy a bit of cricket and a pint and a burger then you know where
02:02to go.
02:03Great news for them.
02:04Yeah.
02:05Well sticking on sport, the company behind popular golf mobile game Golf Clash has agreed
02:11a deal for its new headquarters in Altringham.
02:14So Forthstar has taken Space Foundation which opened earlier this year and was developed
02:20by Bruntwood and Trafford Council as kind of a workspace and leisure development.
02:26The move comes at a really exciting time for the business which was launched in 2023 but
02:31has already secured $10 million worth of investment from a Silicon Valley based venture capital
02:36firm Griffin Gaming Partners.
02:38Big investment now and they've only been going around a year so doing really well.
02:43They are and that funding is going to support their next release.
02:47So Forthstar has joined a cluster of really interesting companies at Foundation including
02:51Lane 7 and sports marketing agency Sport 5.
02:56Fantastic.
02:57And Paul Goge, he's the chief executive and co-founder, he kind of stressed the importance
03:03of creating an inspirational workspace for the business and he said that's basically
03:07the whole point.
03:08You know they're going to grow but in order to grow they want a really nice office for
03:12their employees.
03:13Fantastic.
03:14Yeah.
03:15No exciting news there for them.
03:16And moving over to Wales, I believe you've got a nice story about breathing new life
03:21into a historic building.
03:22Yes, absolutely.
03:23So Park Place, it's a Grade 1 listed building.
03:26It dates back to the Victorian times and there are plans to breathe new life into it as a
03:34vibrant restaurant and events venue.
03:38So Cardiff's Cabinet are being asked to approve an additional loan of £1.63 million that
03:44will help cover that refurbishment and if that's given the go-ahead, it's a recommendation
03:50in an office's report, if that's given the go-ahead then hopefully we can move forward
03:55with these exciting plans and they should bring new jobs into the area and also attract
04:03additional visitors as well.
04:05I think it's always good to see an historic building brought back to use.
04:12It's always a shame when you walk down a street and there's a really lovely looking
04:15building that's got nothing in it.
04:17It's just kind of sad, isn't it?
04:18It is really sad and it's been empty for the last 18 months as well so it's in need of
04:24something being done to it.
04:25Yeah, in need of a bit of a love.
04:26Yeah, so fingers crossed that this venture can go ahead.
04:31Well our final piece of news for the day comes from Birmingham Airport.
04:35They've published some new financial accounts which showed that turnover and profits soared.
04:42That was due to increased customer and passenger numbers following the pandemic.
04:46Yeah, exactly.
04:47So the accounts run up to the year ending 31st of March 2024 and they showed that pre-tax
04:54profits jumped to £48.4 million.
04:58Turnover also rose to £184.2 million.
05:02In the year, the airport processed more than 11.8 million passengers.
05:06Really positive figures there.
05:08That's up 13% on the last year and it's only 2.5% below its last pre-pandemic year.
05:15It's getting back to the levels it needs to be at.
05:17Yeah, momentum's definitely continuing.
05:19Fantastic.
05:20And the airport's chief financial and sustainability officer kind of reinforced that.
05:24He said that the accounts tell a story of continued post-pandemic recovery.
05:29And he also said that during the year, the airport made some significant investments
05:33to modernise and future-proof its terminal buildings.
05:37Fantastic news there for them.
05:39Hopefully it will continue like that.
05:41Yeah, I think it's a little bit of a trend.
05:43It seems like at the minute airports are all doing quite well and it's nice to see because
05:47obviously they really struggled during the pandemic.
05:50A difficult couple of years and now they're on the bounce back.
05:53Yeah, so if you'd like to read more about that story or any of the stories we discussed
05:57today, you can do so on insidermedia.com.
06:00While you're there, feel free to subscribe to our newsletters and of course our magazines.
06:04That's everything from us.