XP Factory half-year Ebitda up 15%, secures new £20m bank facility: XP Factory, which operates the Escape Hunt and Boom Battle Bar brands, has reported a 15% increase in adjusted Ebitda for the 26 weeks to 28 September 2025 to £1.7m, with group revenue up 13.1% to £28.2m. It said that the Escape Hunt owner operated site revenue increased 12.7% to £7.3m, while Boom Battle Bar owner operated revenue increased 16.0% to £20.4m during the period. At the same time, site level Ebitda increased 8% to £6.1m. During the period the business invested £2.2m in growth capex, and £500,000 in maintenance capex. The company called it a “creditable performance amidst a tough market environment”. Escape Hunt reported UK like-for-like growth up 1.8% in the 26 weeks to 28 September 2025, while Boom saw UK like-for-like sales fall 6.8% in the period. During the period a new Boom site opened in Reading in May, with a new Escape Hunt opening in Canterbury in the same month. The company said it had seen a strong performance at Escape Hunt with like-for-like growth of 8.3% in the nine weeks to 30 November 2025. It said Boom was performing in line with a very tough competitive socialising market with like-for-like sales down 9.8% for the nine weeks to 30 November 2025, with overall sales 1% ahead of prior year when including the new sites in Reading and Cambridge. It said it had seen record corporate pre-bookings for Christmas and improved cost controls, which was partly mitigating ongoing softer consumer demand. Escape Hunt Sheffield opened in October 2025, and the company said it has five further sites in advanced discussions; with a target to open three more sites by year end. The business said that the budget outcome is expected to be neutral to modestly positive after detailed evaluation with net lower business rates offsetting higher than planned NLW increases. The company said that Graham Bird, group chief financial officer, has informed the board that he will be retiring at the end of the financial year effective 29 March 2026. The company also confirmed it has signed a new £20m revolving credit facility with HSBC, which replaces its existing two-year £10m RCF entered into on 7 October 2024 and is on “significantly improved terms”. Richard Harpham, chief executive of XP Factory, said: “XP Factory group has had another period of double-digit growth generating strong underlying free cash flow in particularly challenging trading conditions. Escape Hunt has bounced back strongly since the first quarter and continues to produce industry leading metrics on all measures. Boom has performed ahead of the experiential leisure industry as a whole over the period, with softer consumer demand being mitigated by improved cost control and record corporate pre-bookings for the crucial Christmas period on which, as ever, the outturn for the financial year is heavily dependent. Evidencing the attractions of our business model, we have successfully secured new, extended, larger and lower cost banking facilities providing access to liquidity and the flexibility for continued growth and future shareholder value creation.”

 

Budget uncertainty blamed for sharp fall in card spending by UK consumers: UK consumer card spending fell at its fastest pace since 2021 in November, as uncertainty around the budget weighed on household purchases during the peak retail season. The FT reports that the value of card spending declined by an annual rate of 1.1%, the largest drop since February 2021, according to data from Barclays published on Tuesday. The figure, based on 40% of the nation’s credit and debit card transactions, is an early indicator of consumer spending ahead of the official retail sales data that will be published on 19 December. The data is not adjusted for inflation, which hit 3.6% in October, suggesting an even larger contraction in purchases. Karen Johnson, head of retail at Barclays, said November was a “month marked by uncertainty”, as consumers awaited seasonal discounts and the details of the budget. Barclays data showed spending in bars, pubs and clubs contracted by an annual rate of 1.5% in November, with takeaways and fast food down 1.3%. Restaurant spending was down by 0.8%. The amount being spent on hotels also declined, as well as a sharp fall for department stores. However, agencies, pharmacies, and health and beauty stores reported growth in sales. Household spending, which makes up a large part of the UK economy, has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels on a per capita basis, official statistics show. The British Retail Consortium also published disappointing spending figures for November. The value of retail sales grew 1.4%, the weakest pace in six months and nearly half the 2.5% average of the last 12 months, the data showed on Tuesday. Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “Pre-Budget jitters among shoppers meant the month of Black Friday did not deliver as strongly as retailers had hoped or the economy needed.”