Digital strategy surpassing expectations
21 December 2020
Escape Hunt plc (AIM: ESC)
("Escape Hunt" or the "Company")
Digital strategy surpassing expectations
Escape Hunt, a global leader in the growing escape rooms sector, is pleased to announce an update on the progress of its digital and remote play strategy.
Performance of the digital and remote play products in December has surpassed management's expectations, significantly offsetting the reduction in site revenues resulting from the temporary closure of a number of the Company's sites and the restrictions on household mixing in place under the Government's COVID related tier systems.
In Spring 2020, the Company launched a new element of its strategy to develop products which could be played remotely, were not limited to the capacity of physical rooms, could be delivered digitally, and would form a core part of the 'Escape Hunt for Business' proposition. Whilst the strategy initially aimed to combat the loss of business due to closures forced by the Coronavirus pandemic, the Directors regard the development of the digital and remote play products as strategically important for the long term growth of the Company, providing the ability to target new customer segments and build a strong B2B brand.
So far in December, across six digital propositions aimed at the B2B market specifically, the Company has delivered nearly 200 bookings, comprising over 1000 corporate teams and over 6000 individuals. As a testament to the scalability of the products, the largest attendance in a single game had 347 people split between 57 teams playing in the same game all hosted by the Company's in-house delivery team.
The digital strategy was initially launched with the successful release of print-and-play games in April 2020, which ultimately led to an agreement with Netflix to develop a game based on the Netflix™ original film, Enola Holmes©. This suite of games is still proving popular with consumers and the downloads are not included in the numbers above. Moreover, with the licensing agreement announced in September enabling the Company to develop and market proprietary games, there are now 17 products on offer across a number of propositions.
With the UK continuing to face strict rules regarding socialising and mixing, the development of the digital suite is timely, as consumers wishing to enjoy our experiences are able to do so virtually if not physically.
Commenting on the site developments, Richard Harpham, Escape Hunt's CEO said:
"We are absolutely delighted with the success of this important part of our strategy to date. We have benefitted enormously from the fact that companies have looked to offer their staff a remotely delivered social event for Christmas in light of the Coronavirus restrictions. The success has demonstrated our ability to deliver large-scale events remotely which we believe can be applied to a number of B2B opportunities outside Christmas and the Coronavirus pandemic. This would include corporate team building events, learning and development, outdoor events, and conferences. We will continue to invest in this part of our business as we seek to build on our success, create greater scalability within our products, and deliver a successful digital business to sit alongside our hugely popular physical rooms."
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Enquiries |
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Escape Hunt plc Richard Harpham (Chief Executive Officer) Graham Bird (Chief Financial Officer) Kam Bansil (Investor Relations)
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+44 (0) 20 7846 3322 |
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Shore Capital - NOMAD and Joint Broker Tom Griffiths, David Coaten (Corporate Advisory) Fiona Conroy (Corporate Broking)
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+44 (0) 20 7408 4050 |
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Zeus Capital - Joint Broker John Goold Daniel Harris
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+44 (0) 20 3829 5000
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IFC Advisory - Financial PR Graham Herring Florence Chandler |
+44 (0) 20 3934 6630
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Notes to Editors
About Escape Hunt plc
The Escape Hunt Group is a global leader in providing escape-the-room experiences delivered through a network of owner-operated sites in the UK, an international network of franchised outlets in five continents, and through digitally delivered games which can be played remotely. Its products enjoy consistent premium customer ratings and cater for leisure or teambuilding, in small groups or large, and are suitable for consumers, businesses and other organisations. Having been re-admitted to AIM in May 2017, the Company has a strategy of creating high quality premium games and experiences delivered through multiple formats and which can incorporate branded IP content. (https://escapehunt.com/)
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