Rileys remains focused on expanding its portfolio to include some of the UK’s major cities after securing c£2.3m in funding from Triple Point earlier this year.

The sports bar operator completed the refurbishment of its Nottingham city centre site in June and has since secured an alternative, central location for its site in Chester.

Rileys Sports Bars is a national chain of 13 clubs which offers games such as American pool, English pool, snooker, darts, ping pong and digi-darts.

“The focus for Rileys, after Chester, is securing new sites” CEO Craig Mayes tells MCA.

“We’re definitely now looking at the bigger cities”, he says, adding that the brand is seeking sites in Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow, Bristol with a head of term agreed for a site in Cardiff.

Rileys went into administration in July 2020 and closed four sites but revealed it would return to the expansion trail last summer.

The company is now targeting large premises, between 10,000 and 12,000 square ft.

Mayes adds that the property market has been slightly more difficult since the brand first started looking for new sites in early 2022.

“The property market still feels probably a little bit inflated” he adds.

Rileys 2

However, Mayes says, “for the next year, we’re optimistic we’ll continue to grow.”.

Rileys’ location strategy has been informed by key demographic considerations.

“Universities play a big part in what we do,” says Mayes.

“As well as having a good customer base that that lives and works near us, we have a customer base that travel to those cities”, he adds.

The CEO says that weekends continue to be a core part of Rileys sales mix.

“It is probably Monday to Thursday that is a little bit tougher, but people are going out with more money in their pocket on the weekends”, he says.

With the estate “trading well”, Mayes says that whilst frequency of visit seems to be going down, average spend has risen.

“Occupancy on our tables was ahead up until and including August. It’s really September and October that has been tough in terms of that occupancy”, he adds.

“Our refurbishments even in their third year are still in like-for-like growth,” with the overall business trading around 9.6% up in its half year results.

With nearly 150 years in the business, Rileys is keen to stay true to its reputation for classic pub games.

“We want to focus on being really good at English pub sports”, he says.

Rileys 1

“It’s those things that no longer really exist in the pub, where pool tables may have been replaced for dining tables.

However, the brand will also innovate within this realm.

“We’ve evolved into electronic darts; we’ve got a bit of air hockey and shuffleboard as well.”

“We’ll look at innovation in our games. If someone does manage to develop some kind of electronic snooker table or electronic pool table.”

F&B is also a key area of development, says Mayes.

Rileys has been keen to make its offering “more up market”, appealing to a wider demographic with improved vegetarian options, and a small plate offering.