this pool hall is very well established in the local area, and has seen some major international pool and snooker stars over the 40 year plus trading history. For the past few decades the business was operated by well known national chain of snooker clubs. When the company hit trouble, the business was closed. After seeing the club lose appeal due to a lack of passion and interest from the management, the vendor jumped at the opportunity in early 2009 to buy the lease with fixtures and fittings on-site. Although he has seen the club return to good levels of profit, built an excellent reputation with the growing membership and local customers, and has many plans for future expansion, unfortunately he is now in the position where he has to sell the business as a going concern due to the original funding be sourced from an estranged family member. The club occupies a large corner premises on the 1st floor of a busy high-street shopping thoroughfare. In spacious surroundings there are currently 9 american pool tables, 1 british pool table and 6 full-size snooker tables. The tables are rented on an hourly rate, dependent on whether the customer is a guest member visiting for the day, or one of the 900 plus annual members. On site the customers can enjoy a range of draught and bottled beers, soft drinks and bar snacks and food such as burgers, chips and sandwiches. The owner has agreements with molson coors and britvic for the supply of the range of drinks which can be signed over to new owners. The business enjoys a busy trade through-out the day, with peak traffic after work hours and for one of the weekly tournaments that take place on the premises some of which are in liaison with the national circuit. There is also a growing level of poker played at the site in partnership with a growing national company which is driving further traffic and revenue through the door. The owner of the business has had plans draw-up for a redesign of the internal layout to accommodate a sports bar on-site which would have zero competition in the local area, and draw in regular and new clients on a daily basis for the added service and atmosphere available. Equipment: the business operates with a computerised membership which handles all data records, and can be used for regular promotion and customer contact. There is a comprehensive lighting control system for the club to light specific tables and areas for the agreed time period, and there is a large plasma screen in operation for showing sporting events and re-playing poker evenings. At the reception desk is a cash register and credit card machine to handle all payments. There are a number of gaming machines which are leased on a profit share arrangement. Customer service: a business like this is based on its popularity and level of repeat trade. Understanding this from the outset, and seeing the errors of previous management first hand, the vendor has focused on an exceptional level of service to each and every guest. This friendly and professional approach has seen the membership climb rapidly and an increase in daily traffic from recommendation and referral. The desire to bring new things into the clubs such as poker and event evenings, quality food at reasonable prices, and the recent push towards sporting events has gone down very well with customers, and is showing through on the bottom line. Key strengths: the location is obviously a great asset to the business, as is the lack of competition over this highly populous area of west london. The business is very easy to operate from a managerial point of view, with all processes streamlined, and most customers paying with cash which affords the business excellent levels of daily cash-flow growth and expansion opportunities: alongside the major move and refurbishment to a fully sports bar for which the vendor has already received plans and started the process of application, more revenue could easily be derived from targeted marketing to the area for new members, and promotions to the extensive database of current members for them to take-up other services on offer. The menu could be easily extended with a little investment in the kitchen, which would produce high margin offerings.
