BOXPARK, the UK’s award-winning dining, leisure, and retail concept, has published its latest accounts, revealing continued year-on-year revenue growth with sales 35% higher in the year ending April 2023, than in the year prior to Covid-19 (April 2020).

In the reporting period*, the Group’s revenue has been robust despite macro-economic pressures, as it effectively adapted its customer offering to adjust for the change in work patterns post-pandemic and decline of commuters, exacerbated by the rail strikes.

Its high-profile events supplemented by each BOXPARK venue delivering circa. 600 events per year, has bolstered sales helping to combat these pressures with the group reporting revenue of £20.5M in the year to April 2023. Through its resilient events strategy, BOXPARK venues have become associated with key moments in music, culture and sports, launching award-winning campaigns such as its #WomxnWhoPlay women in sports initiative. The Men’s World Cup football championships and Women’s Euros at BOXPARK attracted major brand sponsorships which boosted the Group’s revenue.

Following that, the Women’s World Cup this year was a great success despite the challenging timings with the brand seeing 40% more media coverage and 90% greater potential broadcast reach (1.9bn) than for the previous equivalent men’s competition.

Its venues have also hosted live concerts with famous musicians such as Fatboy Slim and launched its Black Card Sessions concept; intimate live music gigs featuring emerging artists. BOXPARK has collaborated with various culture-leading and community brands such as Recess and DLT to deliver large-scale music events, often with special guest artists.

In the year ending April 2023, the Group has had to manage significant cost increases such as spiking supplier prices and material cost inflation as part of the supply chain. As a result, the Group’s EBITDA of £5.0m is 14% ahead of the £4.4m reported in the financial year (ending April 2020) prior to COVID-19, highlighting that the Group has not only rebounded quickly post-pandemic, but has also managed to navigate the macro pressures of high-cost inflation and a weaker UK consumer environment.

The Group has continued to invest heavily in technology to improve the customer experience and drive revenues, with members of its Black Card loyalty scheme rising by a quarter (26%) to 1.3m customers in the year to April 2023. Members are given special food and drink offers, as well as priority access to popular, high-profile events and exclusivity to certain events.

As well as technology and marketing, BOXPARK has continued to invest in people with the number of employees rising by 9% during the period. The Group has also strengthened its Senior Management team and Board by appointing Paul Thandi CBE, former CEO of The NEC Birmingham, as its new Chairman.

With an exciting pipeline of new sites, the Group has plans to open an average of 2-3 sites per annum over the next five years in London and other major UK cities. With BOXPARK Liverpool and BOXHALL City (in London) set to open first in 2024, the Group has also announced its plans to open a BOXHALL site in Bristol and another BOXPARK scheme in Birmingham.

CEO of BOXPARK Simon Champion comments on the Group’s latest accounts: “We are pleased with our results in this period, delivering growth in like-for-like sales. We’ve successfully navigated a challenging trading environment with high-cost inflation, a stress on consumer spending, and changing patterns of consumers going out.”

“Our results are testament that our agile and resilient approach is working but we still need to remain cautious in such a tough market. Whilst we anticipate these macro challenges to continue for now, we are optimistic about the future prospects for the business, having announced the opening of BOXPARK Liverpool, the first of its kind outside of London in 2024, and now Birmingham.”