Arcade bar group NQ64 secures £2.5m to grow
The bar group, which was founded in 2019 by Andy Haygarth and Matt Robson in Manchester’s Northern Quarter has received the funds from alternative lender ThinCats to help it continue its expansion drive.
The company, which is backed by specialist lifestyle and entertainment investor Imbiba, operates nine retro gaming bars across the UK in cities such as Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Cardiff, Newcastle and Glasgow - five of which have opened in the past 18 months. Its most recent opening was in Soho, which launched earlier this year and marked the group's London debut.
It is now targeting cities including Leeds, Bristol, Bath, Nottingham, Reading, Belfast, Sheffield, Aberdeen, and Brighton as well as looking to open further London sites, with venues of between 4,000 and 10,000sq ft being sought after.
"We have a great team that has enabled us to open the first nine NQ64s, in a relatively short time,” says Haygarth.
“We are really excited about the next phase of growth. With the backing of Imbiba and our new partnership with ThinCats, we are looking forward to bringing our neon splattered drinking dens to a host of new guests. We generally now invest between £500,000 and £1m into the build of a new site."
NQ64 combines arcade games and classic consoles with a large drinks list of craft beers, themed cocktails and sodas.
“It is fantastic to be involved with a business like NQ64 who clearly have a strategy to grow their brand across the UK,” says Mike Dinnell, director business development at ThinCats.
“NQ64 is a bar where classic console games and great cocktails find perfect harmony across a range of age groups. The quality of the management team in place really underpins the growth plan we are supporting.”
Last week it emerged that ThinCats had also provided London-based restaurant business Bob Bob Ricard with funds to aid its expansion both in the UK and overseas.
