Tenpin bowling prices may have to rise to take care of a rise in the country’s minimum wage level, according to Hollywood Bowl CEO Stephen Burns in a BBC interview.
Burns said that the rise was an unexpected hit on the industry and the level was "quite painful," rising to £11.44 per hour next April, compared with today's £10.42.
Nevertheless, the company reported record revenues of £215.1m for the year to September 30 from its 66 venues across the country - plus nine in Canada.
Pre-tax profits, however, were slightly down at £45.1m from £46.7m and profit after tax was £34.2m, up from £30.9m.
Burns was speaking on the BBC Today programme. He said that the company had budgeted for an increase in the National Living Wage of 7.7 per cent, but the level actually announced had been 9.8 per cent for those aged over 23. Workers aged 21 or 22 will see basic wages rise by 12.4 per cent.
The new rate, he said, would cost the company around £600,000 in the second half of the current financial year.
