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Alice and Ben discuss a new cricket-themed bar in Bristol, the relocation of a video game start-up, plans to redevelop a historic Cardiff building into a leisure venue and soaring profits at Birmingham airport.

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00:00A new cricket themed bar in Bristol, relocation for a company behind a popular golf game and

00:05soaring profits at Birmingham Airport.

00:08That's all coming up on today's Business Briefing.

00:16My name's Alice Bird.

00:17I'm Ben Butler.

00:18So Ben, what's going on in your patches today?

00:20Yeah, so we've got a new cricket party bar concept, Six's Social Cricket.

00:25Oh yeah, I've heard of that before.

00:27Yes, it's set to take over a prime spot in Bristol's Harbourside.

00:32So essentially Six's is a pioneering social cricket activity bar and it aims to bring

00:38people together through the thrill of the sport and also socialising.

00:43So the concept offers a tech-enabled batting challenge with competitors testing their skills

00:48against some of the world's finest virtual bowlers and the venue will also boast a bar

00:54specialising in craft beers and cocktails and that will be alongside an all-day menu

00:59of burgers and shareable plates.

01:03So the new venue will join those in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Headingley, Brighton,

01:08Leicester, Oxford, Southampton and Guildford.

01:11So it has a real presence UK-wide and it's also got an overseas presence as well.

01:18So further afield it's taken hold in Dallas in Texas and this summer it also launched

01:23in Trinidad in the West Indies as well.

01:27So it'll be launching on the 14th of October on the Monday and I believe you know someone

01:33in Manchester?

01:34Yeah, my brother actually went to the Manchester one for his friend Stag Do.

01:40So a nice option for your Stag Do.

01:42Yeah no, absolutely, that's next year so it's certainly one to consider and it's a great

01:46idea for families and friends if they plan to get together and socialise.

01:50Those things are always easy aren't they?

01:52Yeah, and it's Christmas party season round the corner and on that note bookings are now

01:57live as well so if you fancy a bit of cricket and a pint and a burger then you know where

02:02to go.

02:03Great news for them.

02:04Yeah.

02:05Well sticking on sport, the company behind popular golf mobile game Golf Clash has agreed

02:11a deal for its new headquarters in Altringham.

02:14So Forthstar has taken Space Foundation which opened earlier this year and was developed

02:20by Bruntwood and Trafford Council as kind of a workspace and leisure development.

02:26The move comes at a really exciting time for the business which was launched in 2023 but

02:31has already secured $10 million worth of investment from a Silicon Valley based venture capital

02:36firm Griffin Gaming Partners.

02:38Big investment now and they've only been going around a year so doing really well.

02:43They are and that funding is going to support their next release.

02:47So Forthstar has joined a cluster of really interesting companies at Foundation including

02:51Lane 7 and sports marketing agency Sport 5.

02:56Fantastic.

02:57And Paul Goge, he's the chief executive and co-founder, he kind of stressed the importance

03:03of creating an inspirational workspace for the business and he said that's basically

03:07the whole point.

03:08You know they're going to grow but in order to grow they want a really nice office for

03:12their employees.

03:13Fantastic.

03:14Yeah.

03:15No exciting news there for them.

03:16And moving over to Wales, I believe you've got a nice story about breathing new life

03:21into a historic building.

03:22Yes, absolutely.

03:23So Park Place, it's a Grade 1 listed building.

03:26It dates back to the Victorian times and there are plans to breathe new life into it as a

03:34vibrant restaurant and events venue.

03:38So Cardiff's Cabinet are being asked to approve an additional loan of £1.63 million that

03:44will help cover that refurbishment and if that's given the go-ahead, it's a recommendation

03:50in an office's report, if that's given the go-ahead then hopefully we can move forward

03:55with these exciting plans and they should bring new jobs into the area and also attract

04:03additional visitors as well.

04:05I think it's always good to see an historic building brought back to use.

04:12It's always a shame when you walk down a street and there's a really lovely looking

04:15building that's got nothing in it.

04:17It's just kind of sad, isn't it?

04:18It is really sad and it's been empty for the last 18 months as well so it's in need of

04:24something being done to it.

04:25Yeah, in need of a bit of a love.

04:26Yeah, so fingers crossed that this venture can go ahead.

04:31Well our final piece of news for the day comes from Birmingham Airport.

04:35They've published some new financial accounts which showed that turnover and profits soared.

04:42That was due to increased customer and passenger numbers following the pandemic.

04:46Yeah, exactly.

04:47So the accounts run up to the year ending 31st of March 2024 and they showed that pre-tax

04:54profits jumped to £48.4 million.

04:58Turnover also rose to £184.2 million.

05:02In the year, the airport processed more than 11.8 million passengers.

05:06Really positive figures there.

05:08That's up 13% on the last year and it's only 2.5% below its last pre-pandemic year.

05:15It's getting back to the levels it needs to be at.

05:17Yeah, momentum's definitely continuing.

05:19Fantastic.

05:20And the airport's chief financial and sustainability officer kind of reinforced that.

05:24He said that the accounts tell a story of continued post-pandemic recovery.

05:29And he also said that during the year, the airport made some significant investments

05:33to modernise and future-proof its terminal buildings.

05:37Fantastic news there for them.

05:39Hopefully it will continue like that.

05:41Yeah, I think it's a little bit of a trend.

05:43It seems like at the minute airports are all doing quite well and it's nice to see because

05:47obviously they really struggled during the pandemic.

05:50A difficult couple of years and now they're on the bounce back.

05:53Yeah, so if you'd like to read more about that story or any of the stories we discussed

05:57today, you can do so on insidermedia.com.

06:00While you're there, feel free to subscribe to our newsletters and of course our magazines.

06:04That's everything from us.

Watch: Insider's Business Briefing - 11th October

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