Trading Update and Notice of Results
XP Factory (LON:XPF), one of the UK’s pre-eminent experiential leisure businesses operating the Escape HuntTM (‘EH’) and Boom Battle BarTM (‘Boom’) brands, has announced a trading update and provided notice of its full year results for the year ending 31 March 2025 which will be released on 1 September 2025.
Highlights for the 19 weeks to 10 August 2025
· The Group has made good progress against its strategic objectives including:
o opening two new sites (Boom Reading and EH Canterbury)
o doubling capacity at EH Birmingham Resorts World
o additional EH in build in Sheffield
o a further five sites in advanced discussions
· Group owner operated (‘O&O’) revenue was up 12% in the 19 weeks to 10 August 2025 compared with the prior year
· Marked turnaround in like-for-like (‘LFL’) sales performance in both brands following a challenging Q1, where unseasonally hot weather and economic uncertainty saw the experiential industry suffer negative 10% LFL sales1:
o Escape Hunt UK LFL sales +0.4% year-to-date (‘YTD’), with LFLs of +8.6% in the six weeks to 10 August 2025 having fully offset the negative -3.5% in Q1
o Boom UK LFL sales -5.6% YTD, excluding the impact of Euro 2024 LFLs returned to +0.2% in the six weeks to 10 August 2025 vs -6.4% in Q1
· Strong cost controls and benefits from supplier contract renegotiations have largely offset YTD Group EBITDA impact driven by the negative LFLs in Q1
· New Boom site in Reading trading materially ahead of plan, and positive early indications for new EH sites which are trading in line with plan
· Positive momentum on corporate bookings, which bodes well for the all-important calendar Q4 trading period
· The Board remains cautiously optimistic about meeting the market’s expectations for the full year
Recent trading
The challenges experienced by the hospitality industry as a whole since the Group’s year end have been widely publicised with increases in national insurance and Minimum Living Wage (MLW), unseasonally hot weather and significant economic uncertainty all having a negative impact. Reflecting these factors, independent data suggests the experiential leisure industry suffered negative LFL decline in the calendar quarter to 30 June of around 10%. Whilst XP Factory has not been immune to these external influences, the Group has outperformed the industry and made further progress towards its strategic objectives.
Both the Group’s brands experienced further strong revenue growth overall in the 19 weeks to 10 August 2025 driven by the Group’s expansion strategy.
Escape Hunt revenue grew 11%. New sites opened since the same period last year added 15%, offset by a 4% decline from the closure of our site in Birmingham Central after the landlord was instructed by the council to close the shopping centre at short notice. Underlying UK LFL growth was +0.4% for the period, but this masks an improving trend from trading, with summer momentum building over recent weeks. In the six weeks to 10 August 2025, Escape Hunt delivered +8.6% LFL growth.
Boom revenue increased 13%. New sites opened or acquired since the same period last year added 20%, offset by a 1% decline from the closure of our site in Swindon. Underlying UK LFL sales were down 5.6%. Similar to Escape Hunt, the 13 weeks to 29 June 2025 saw a greater reduction with the effect of hot weather and reduced corporate bookings having a more marked impact, as well as tough comparables linked to England’s run to the Euro 2024 final. Excluding the week of the Euros final, in the six weeks to 10 August, performance has improved with UK LFLs improving to +0.2%
The lower rate of growth in the 13 weeks to 29 June 2025 in both businesses was impacted by the unseasonally hot spring which detracted from indoor activities, together with significant economic uncertainty following national insurance increases and MLW increases that came into effect in April, Trump’s tariff announcements and heightened tension in the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine. Corporate bookings experienced a bigger decline than consumer for both businesses, as corporate spending on entertainment reduced whilst businesses came to terms with the impact of increased costs and greater uncertainty.
Encouragingly, after the challenging start to the year, corporate bookings have since rebounded strongly, with YTD LFL bookings growth back in positive territory at +2%. The B2B pipeline has accelerated markedly, with the pipeline balance of “expected” bookings driven by in-bound enquiries now materially ahead of the comparable time last year, giving cause for optimism for the all-important Q4 of the calendar year.
Our site expansion strategy remains on track to meet our medium-term targets for March 2028. A new Boom site opened in Reading on 6 June 2025 and, to date, has been trading materially ahead of plan. A new Escape Hunt site opened in Canterbury on 30 April 2025, and on 1 August 2025 we opened the expansion to our site in Birmingham Resorts world, doubling capacity. Both sites have opened well. We have commenced build on a new Escape Hunt site in Sheffield and have a further, well advanced pipeline of five Escape Hunt sites in addition to a number of other sites in discussion across both brands. The roll out of sites is influenced by the pace at which the business generates cash and, as such is expected accelerate towards the back end of our three-year plan.
Outlook
Whilst the tough first quarter coupled with increased labour costs in both businesses have presented some operational challenges, significant progress has been made in other areas which is helping to mitigate these issues. Most notably, we have secured materially improved terms on several Boom supplier contracts, based on increased scale which is expected to significantly offset YTD headwinds. Despite the challenging conditions in Q1, the combination of improved trading, cost savings, and positive B2B momentum has driven a stronger performance trajectory. Subject to the continuation of these trends and a robust corporate season, the Board remains cautiously optimistic the Group will meet market expectations for the 12 months ending 31 March 2026.
Notice of Results
The Group will announce its full year results covering the 12 months ended 31 March 2025 on 1 September 2025. Further details on current trading and outlook will be provided in the results announcement at this time.
1 Source: CGA Hospitality Tracker
