The news that tenpin bowling centres in England can reopen for business on August 1 has been greeted with relief by one of the biggest operators.
Nick Basing, interim chairman of Ten Entertainment Group, with 40 locations in England, said: "We are delighted that we can now open and welcome back customers on 1 August. We are fully prepared and looking forward to delivering fun and entertainment in a very safe way. We will be opening all 40 of our English Entertainment venues.
“While it was frustrating not to be able to sooner, the government has delivered extraordinary levels of support enabling businesses like ours to endure the crisis and emerge intact to restart and rebuild from here."
At Hollywood Bowl Group there are plans to reopen 54 centres on the same day. The remaining six centres in the group are in Wales or Scotland.
The company said that it has "a comprehensive Covid-secure protocol in place, in addition to adopting the operating measures published by UK Hospitality and endorsed by the government for bar, diner and amusement areas. These include enhanced cleaning and social distancing measures, with customer guidance throughout the centres.”
It added: “The group will begin the process of un-furloughing its team members and will provide training on the new Covid-secure operating procedures. It will initially operate with reducing opening hours for off-peak periods and revised rotas to support these new operational measures."
The permission only applies to England. There are separate governments in Wales and Scotland, who have yet to give the bowling industry release dates.
