Exclusive – RedCat explores options for The Coaching Inn Group: RedCat Hospitality, founded and chaired by Rooney Anand, has hired advisers to assess the next stage of funding options for The Coaching Inn Group, which could include a sale of the UK’s fourth-largest pubs-with-rooms operator, Propel has learned. Propel understands that Rothschild has been hired to oversee the process to explore growth options for the award-winning The Coaching Inn Group business, which is believed to be valued at between circa £175m-£210m. Founded in 1996, The Coaching Inn Group was acquired by RedCat in 2021, with 18 venues, in a deal valued at circa £65m. Under the stewardship of RedCat, The Coaching Inn Group has more than doubled in the past three years, having grown from the 18 sites and 513 rooms when acquired to 43 premium inns operating nearly 1,300 rooms. Earlier this month, the business said its turnover was approaching almost £100m. Propel understands that the current site Ebitda of The Coaching Inn Group is around £20m. It is thought The Coaching Inn Group, which was recently named Which? Large Hotel Chain of the Year, will attract interest from investment firms and the likes of Brunning & Price, The Inn Collection, Butcombe Group, Heartwood Collection, Fuller’s, Young’s, and Mitchells & Butlers. In January, Propel revealed the Oaktree Capital-backed RedCat Hospitality was to become a focused pub-with-rooms operator and exit its circa 20-strong managed pub division. It followed the sale of its 21-strong leased and tenanted pubs division to Admiral Taverns in November, in a deal valued at circa £10m. A sale of both The Coaching Inn Group and its remaining managed sites could see RedCat exit the market. In January, the Richard Lewis-led RedCat said it saw like-for-like sales growth throughout the month of December, driven by an “extraordinary” performance by The Coaching Inn Group, which recorded 11.7% growth during the two-week period across Christmas and new year. The Coaching Inn Group reported an 8.4% growth across the six-week seasonal period. In January, Mark Wingett, Propel’s chief operating officer – editorial, wrote in an editorial: “In The Coaching Inn Group, recently named Large Hotel Chain of the Year by consumer champion Which?, RedCat has one of the jewels in the sector’s highly competitive pubs with rooms market. I can even see RedCat getting leaner and fitter before it presses the button on further acquisitions. By placing its remaining managed sites on the market, it can now focus its energy and investment on the part of the business it believes provides the best return on investment and long-term growth potential – a strategic trend other operators are also set to follow. With the funds generated from the managed division sale to come, RedCat can play an interesting and potentially decisive role in the future make-up of the inns market, alongside the likes of the Heartwood Collection, Inn Collection and newcomer to the accommodation party, Brunning & Price. After two years of getting under the bonnet, Richard Lewis and his team have put RedCat/The Coaching Inn Group in a prime position to play a key role in any consolidation play.” RedCat declined to comment. RedCat features in the Premium Club Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the latest edition of which features 1,244 companies. RedCat’s turnover of £124.3m for the 12 months to the end of March 2025 is the 109th highest in the database. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Propel Premium for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or a supplier. The single subscription rate is £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com to upgrade your subscription.

Immersive Gamebox signs multimillion-pound franchise deal for UK expansion, targets 100 locations globally by 2027: Immersive Gamebox, which operates the Electric Gamebox brand and was acquired by Harlan Capital Partners in January last year, has signed a multimillion-pound franchise agreement with Beyond Box Operations to open 30 Immersive Gamebox locations across the UK over the next five years. Beyond Box Operations is led by retail entrepreneur Amir Mashkoor, the operator behind the UK expansion of lifestyle retailer Miniso. Through Kouriten, Mashkoor holds the UK master franchise rights for the brand and has scaled the business to more than 60 locations nationwide, establishing it as one of the country’s fastest-growing retail rollouts in recent years. The partnership marks a significant milestone in Immersive Gamebox’s global franchise expansion and said it underscores growing investor confidence in immersive, experience-led entertainment as retail environments evolve. Immersive Gamebox is a next-generation entertainment company creating immersive, multiplayer gaming experiences. Working with major studios including Netflix, Warner Bros. and Sony, it allows players to step inside interactive digital games inspired by global entertainment franchises such as Squid Game, Batman and Floor Is Lava, using projection mapping, touch-sensitive walls and motion tracking technology. The concept has already demonstrated strong consumer demand, with a global network of more than 35 locations across the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany and Saudi Arabia. The new UK franchise agreement forms part of Immersive Gamebox’s broader ambition to scale its footprint internationally through experienced regional operators, with a target of reaching 100 locations globally by 2027. Under the agreement, the 30 new Immersive Gamebox venues are set to open starting this year, with locations planned for major shopping centres and high-traffic retail destinations across the UK. Alongside its UK expansion, Immersive Gamebox has recently signed its first US multi-site development deal for the Greater Seattle area, with the first location scheduled to open in 2026. Lisa Paton, chief executive of Immersive Gamebox, said: “Partnering with Amir and the Beyond Box team represents an exciting step forward in our global franchise strategy. They bring a proven track record of building scalable consumer brands in high-footfall retail destinations, which makes them an ideal partner to lead Immersive Gamebox’s expansion across the UK. As retail environments evolve, operators and investors are increasingly seeking modular, flexible entertainment concepts that can deliver strong returns without operational complexity. Immersive Gamebox was designed with exactly that in mind, a social entertainment experience that drives dwell time, repeat visits and measurable performance for landlords and franchise partners alike.” Mashkoor added: “Immersive Gamebox stood out because it combines a compelling customer experience with a format that is efficient to operate and highly scalable. It’s a proven concept with strong repeat engagement, and we see an exciting opportunity to build it into a national network of locations across the UK.” In December, Paton told Propel that Immersive Gamebox had entered a “pivotal new chapter focused on data-driven growth and asset-light scalability”.

Innis & Gunn entered administration following ‘weak and inconsistent performance across taproom estate’ and ‘decline in Scottish on-trade volumes’: Scottish brewer and retailer Innis & Gunn entered administration following “weak and inconsistent performance across the taproom estate” and a “decline in Scottish on-trade volumes”. Christopher Bennett, Oliver Wright and Samuel Ballinge, of FTI Consulting, were appointed as administrators on 6 March and immediately sold the brand and associated global intellectual property to C&C Group for £4.5m. Three taprooms in Edinburgh and Glasgow were not included in the deal and closed, with 99 employees made redundant. An administrators’ report said the trading performance of BrewCo, responsible for Innis & Gunn’s brewing and distribution, “deteriorated due to a combination of structural and operational pressures”. These included “declines in Scottish on-trade volumes, reflecting weaker consumer demand and increased competition from multinational brewers”. IGHG, which operated the taprooms and events business, also experienced “sustained underperformance”, characterised by “weak and inconsistent trading performance across the taproom estate, particularly in midweek and off-peak periods”, and “cost-of-living pressures reducing discretionary spend, resulting in lower footfall and weaker revenue”. The report also cited rising operating costs and the volatility of events-based income, which was “inconsistent and below historic levels”. The report said: “The cumulative impact of these factors resulted in a material deterioration of the companies’ liquidity position, and as a result, the companies launched an equity/investment process in 2025, which did not result in any offers being taken forward by the board, with the majority shareholder exploring a solvent recapitalisation of the group together with a third-party investor. Following a failure to reach agreed heads of terms regarding a solvent recapitalisation by the end of January 2026, the companies concluded they were unlikely to secure additional funding from existing stakeholders or external providers.” Year to date figures for the financial year to 31 March 2026 showed revenue of £20,016,000 (2025: £23,614,000) and a pre-tax loss of £931,000 (2025: loss of £982,000). It is anticipated dividends will be paid to all classes of creditors in BrewCo and holding company HoldCo, but none to the non-preferential unsecured creditors of IGHG. HoldCo owes £0.62m to secured creditors and £2.07m to unsecured; BrewCo owes £0.62m to secured creditors, £0.07m to ordinary preferential creditors, £0.61m to secondary preferential creditors and £9.88m to unsecured creditors; and IGHG owes £0.04m to ordinary preferential creditors, £0.22m to secondary preferential creditors and £5.45m to unsecured creditors.