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Jennifer and Stephen discuss funding for an escape room and experimental entertainment venue operator, the redevelopment of a shopping centre, and the Yorkshire Growth 100.

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00:00Funding for an escape room and entertainment venue operator, redevelopment of a shopping

00:04centre and the Yorkshire Growth 100 feature in today's business briefing.

00:08So, Jennifer, what's caught your eye in the news today?

00:16Yes, so there was some big news for a listed business today. XP Factory Group, it's the

00:22listed business behind the Escape Hunt and Boom Battle Bar brands, has secured a new

00:27£10 million revolving credit facility from Barclays to support its expansion plans.

00:33Are you familiar with Escape Hunt or Boom Battle Bar?

00:37I'm not, I don't think I've ever visited, no.

00:39Well, Escape Hunt is a global provider of escape room experiences, which it delivers

00:44online through a network of owner-operated sites in the UK, and also it has an international

00:49network of franchise outlets across five continents. Boom Battle Bar then offers experiential

00:57bar entertainment and it has a fast-growing network of owner-operated and franchise sites

01:02in the UK. Activities it provides include games like Augmented Reality Darts, Bavarian

01:10Axe Throwing, Crazy Golf, Shuffleboard and loads more like that. The £10 million funding

01:16from Barclays will increase the group's capacity to grow both brands, provide additional

01:22working capital headroom and enable the company to refinance an existing £1 million debt

01:27facility at lower borrowing costs.

01:30Okay, so it might be an option for our Christmas party.

01:32Definitely would be something different, yeah.

01:34Well, sticking with the leisure sector, we've got two more Padaul stories for you. We've

01:39spoken about Padaul various times in these briefings, two stories online today. In Farnham,

01:44plans for a £2.5 million Padaul and Pickleball facility have been approved by Waverley Borough

01:50Council. So the hop would feature 10 Pickleball courts and four Padaul courts in a converted

01:56warehouse. It's supposed to open in mid-2025. Sally Grace and Andre Strachan are behind

02:01the project and they previously won the Sketches Pickleball English Open Mixed Doubles title,

02:06so they're a really strong pedigree there. If anyone knows about Pickleball, it will

02:10be them. Over in Poole, Cross Court Padaul is seeking permission for an indoor Padaul

02:16centre that will feature seven courts as well as changing rooms and a cafe. The application

02:21site itself dates back to 2003 when it was originally a park and ride. It's gone through

02:26a number of uses since then. It was previously a fire station. It was most recently used

02:30as a COVID testing facility. So as you can see, we've come a long way in the last four

02:34years. That application will go before the council's planning committee later today

02:39and is recommended for approval. Brilliant. Well, sticking with property news then, in

02:44workshop proposals to redevelop the Priory Centre have been recommended for approval

02:50ahead of a planning committee meeting that's taking place next week. The Priory Centre

02:56is a shopping centre and it's a large retail site that's home to national and independent

03:02brands and cafes. Full permission is now being sought for part demolition and part

03:09new build extension of the centre to make way for new leisure facilities, which would

03:14include a ten pin bowling, adventure play, crazy golf and a cafe area. Other areas of

03:21the centre are proposed to be retained and refurbished, both internally and externally,

03:26creating a new indoor market, a separate indoor food course and retail and food and

03:32beverage units. The application also includes the addition of a new pedestrian footbridge

03:38over the Chesterfield Canal, which would connect the development to the north of the town.

03:42Great stuff. Sounds like a really interesting development there. Yeah, absolutely.

03:46Well, the last thing from us today in this week's online news, we're covering some of

03:50the names on the Yorkshire Growth 100 list. So that's been revealed in the latest edition of

03:56the Yorkshire Business Insider magazine. This itself ranks companies on their growth over a

04:00four year period. At the top of the table is a company called Bayford & Co based out in Wetherby.

04:06They can trace their history back to 1919. They were established by a group of demobbed World

04:10War One soldiers. Now today they are shareholders in a number of businesses, such as Vore Charging,

04:16which installs electric vehicle charging points, businesses and leisure venues across the UK,

04:20and Fulcrum, which is a multi-utility infrastructure and services provider.

04:25The company, the group itself, achieved growth of more than 222% over the four year period,

04:32and that's taken it to the top of the list. The online story today focuses on property and

04:37construction businesses. We've also covered manufacturing businesses. And as I said,

04:41the full list is in the latest edition of the Yorkshire Business Insider magazine.

04:46So for more on the stories we've spoken about today and for various other stories,

04:49visit insidermedia.com. You can also sign up for our newsletters and find out about

04:53some of our upcoming events. Thank you for watching.

Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 10th October

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