XP Factory revenues bounce back following difficult Q1 trading

Experiential hospitality operator, XP Factory, has seen owner-operated revenues rise 12% year-on-year for the 19-week period to 10 August with the support of new openings and improving consumer demand. 

The update follows a difficult start to the financial year, with like-for-like said to be returning to growth across both its Escape Hunt and Boom Battle Bar brands. 

Experiential leisure operator XP Factory has reported stronger trading over the summer following a difficult start to the financial year, with like-for-like sales returning to growth across both its Escape Hunt and Boom Battle Bar brands.

Escape Hunt delivered like-for-like sales growth of 8.6% in the six-week period to 10 August, recovering from a 3.5% fall in the first quarter to reach a year-to-date increase of 0.4%.

Meanwhile, Boom Battle Bar reported like-for-like sales down 5.6% over the same year-to-date period. However, excluding the impact of the Euro 2024 football tournament, sales rose 0.2% in the past six weeks, compared with a 6.4% drop in the first quarter.

XP Factory said both brands had been affected by unseasonably hot weather and wider economic pressures in the spring, which contributed to an estimated 10% decline across the experiential leisure sector during the quarter to 30 June.

Year-to-date like-for-like bookings rose 2%, the company said, with its pipeline of expected business-to-business events now “materially ahead” of the same time last year.

The group added that cost savings, including renegotiated supplier contracts for Boom, had helped mitigate some of the first-quarter trading pressures. It said the combination of improved trading, cost controls and corporate momentum had led to “a stronger performance trajectory”.

XP Factory opened two new venues during the period – Boom in Reading and Escape Hunt in Canterbury – with both reported to be trading in line with or ahead of expectations. An expansion at Escape Hunt in Birmingham Resorts World, which doubled capacity, opened on 1 August. Another site is currently under construction in Sheffield, with a further five in advanced discussions.

The company said it remained on track to meet its medium-term growth targets to March 2028 and was “cautiously optimistic” about meeting market expectations for the full year to 31 March 2026.

XP Factory expects to announce its full-year results for the year to 31 March 2025 on 1 September.