Former Yo! Sushi chief executive Vanessa Hall has been drafted in as chairwoman at fast-growing leisure company Gravity Active.
Set up by two childhood friends, Gravity Active has drawn up plans to double in size to at least 30 locations.
This weekend, it opens its largest site in a former, giant Debenhams store inside a London shopping centre which includes bars, restaurants, a host of leisure pursuits and uses augmented reality to enhance traditional activities.
New start: Vanessa Hall is to chair fast-growing leisure firm Gravity Active
Hall has spent nearly 30 years working in leisure and hospitality including as a director at Bass, All Bar One and Mitchells & Butlers.
She said: ‘We have an exciting expansion programme as people look for shared leisure experiences with friends and reconnections with colleagues.’ The arrival of the former restaurant boss comes as Gravity Active appoints KPMG to advise on fundraising for the company’s next phase of growth.
Harvey Jenkinson, co-founder and chief executive at Gravity, said the company could raise around £10million by early next year, but plans are still to be finalised.
Gravity’s centres first opened as trampoline parks but have grown rapidly to include climbing walls, indoor golf, go-karting, bowling alleys, e-sports and new interpretations of pub games such as digital darts and pool.
The company has its eye on ten sites in Saudi Arabia and in October opens its first mainland Europe site, in the German city of Leipzig.
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