Popular bar chain with over 30 UK sites suddenly closes town centre location for good with staff axed

The Sun

03-05-2025

Published: Invalid Date,
A popular UK activity bar has abruptly shut its town centre site for good, leaving staff jobless and the venue permanently closed.
Boom Battle Bar's Swindon branch, located at Regent Circus, was known for offering a lively mix of games like axe throwing, crazy golf, shuffleboard, and ping pong.
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The site had been closed since March, initially blaming an 'electrical issue', but now it's clear the closure is permanent.
According to reports from Swindon Advertiser, staff were informed last week they had been made redundant, ending weeks of uncertainty and speculation.
At first, customers believed the shutdown was temporary, and many hoped the popular activity venue would soon reopen.
But insiders confirmed that Boom Battle Bar will not return to its Regent Circus home.
A company spokesperson admitted that 'difficult decisions' had been made but stopped short of calling it a permanent closure, instead saying the bar had closed 'for the foreseeable future' due to ongoing, unresolved power issues.
However, behind the scenes, staff were told that the company is not planning to reopen at the current site.
While the chain may look for a new Swindon location in the future, no move is expected anytime soon.
Workers say they were warned not to count on a quick relocation or rehiring.
On Wednesday, arcade machines and gaming gear were seen being packed up and moved out, reportedly destined for the company's new Reading site.
Cleaning crews were also inside, with public warning signs posted about maintenance work in progress.
Meanwhile, customers can no longer book activities on the company's website, and no public closure statement has appeared on social media.
The closure is another heavy blow for Regent Circus, the £40 million complex that has struggled to keep tenants since opening in 2014. Cineworld permanently shut its cinema branch there in October 2024, and Morrisons supermarket closed in 2019.
Several restaurants, including Dough and Co, Funky Grilla, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, and Lamaya Lebanese Kitchen, have all tried and failed to survive in the centre, leaving Nando's as the only major permanent tenant, alongside a temporary Pride pop-up shop.
Boom Battle Bar operates more than 30 locations across the UK and has built its brand on offering competitive games, drinks, and social experiences in a party atmosphere.
Despite its success in other cities, the Swindon branch now joins the growing list of bars and entertainment venues shutting down across the country.
Adding to this wave of high-profile closures, major restaurant chain Browns Bar and Brasserie has announced it will soon shut its first-ever branch in Brighton after more than 50 years of operation.
Known for its classically British menu featuring seasonal dishes, afternoon teas, and Sunday roasts, the Duke Street location was the birthplace of the Browns brand, opening back in 1973.
The company confirmed that the Brighton restaurant will close its doors for the final time on May 9, 2025, after its lease expired and efforts to secure a renewal fell through.
In Manchester, the beloved live music venue Night & Day Cafe has battled temporary closures over noise complaints, sparking public protests and petitions to save the site.
In London, the iconic Lamb and Flag pub in Covent Garden announced it would shut its doors after more than 300 years, blaming rising rents, tough trading conditions, and falling footfall.
Elsewhere in Yorkshire, the popular Revolution bar chain has closed several locations, citing rising costs and a difficult post-pandemic recovery.
Meanwhile, independent pubs in rural areas have been closing at record rates, as landlords struggle to cope with soaring energy bills, wage demands, and supplier prices.
Boom Battle Bar continues to operate in over a dozen other locations across the UK, where it attracts visitors with its lively mix of competitive games, drinks, and entertainment.
But in Swindon, the popular activity bar has now officially closed its doors for good.
RETAIL PAIN IN 2025
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
Research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices by early April.
A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024.
Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: "The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025."
Professor Bamfield has also warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
"By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer's household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020."
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