Work to start on New Lane7 Leeds venue
One of the UK’s largest independent boutique bowling operation has announced its plans to start work on the opening of three new sites in the first quarter of 2026, and a new Leeds site has been confirmed.
Lane7 has announced its plans to open new boutique bowling and entertainment venues in Glasgow, Edinburgh, as well as Leeds, with ambitious plans to start development work on all three sites simultaneously before the end of March.
At the same time, the Lane7 Group has confirmed a restructuring of its operations to bring all its brands under one administrative group.
The group will operate Level X, ML7, Gutterball and its original Lane7 brand under the same administrative identity, which it says will enable a simplified structure and streamlined operational processes.
Leeds has been a long-held target city and Lane7 insist guests will be thrilled with the new 23,000sq ft location in the heart of the City Centre, its first foray into Yorkshire’s cultural capital.
Elsewhere, the group already has a successful Level X operation in St Enoch’s Centre in Glasgow, and plans to open its first Lane7 in the Scottish city on the site of the former Platform event space in the city centre.
Meanwhile, in Edinburgh, the group has been successfully operating in the popular St James Quarter since late 2020, and will open a second site at the Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre in Leith. Edinburgh will mark the fifth city, following Newcastle, Birmingham, London and Dublin, that Lane7 boasts multi-site operations.
Group managing director, Gavin Hughes explained: “We know 2026 is going to be another transformational year for the group. We’ll be starting development of three new sites by the close of the first quarter, taking in some new locations and expanding further in others.
“Equally, the administrative restructuring of the brands that form the group means we’ll enter 2026 with a much stronger financial model for our busy investment and growth plans.
"This will turbocharge our ability to better resource both the identification and subsequent acceleration of new site plans, work with even more ambitious suppliers and partners, and maintain our position as the industry’s front-runners in developing new, competitive experiences in the social space.”
Hughes also outlined the new structure means expanding the senior leadership team, which has led to a range of internal promotions and new responsibilities for existing team members across the group.
Founder, Tim Wilks launched Lane7’s first site in Newcastle in 2013, quickly gaining a reputation for matching ground-breaking gaming and social competition in high-footfall, city centre sites. It has since opened 23 further Lane7 sites, including overseas operations in Berlin, which it opened in late 2024.
The company also now boasts family-friendly Gutterball operations in North Shields, Lincoln and Ealing, futuristic Level X operations in Glasgow and Middlesbrough and a new ML7 concept in Newcastle.