Essenden

Essenden, the UK's largest tenpin bowling operator, could be set to hit a strike following last October's appointment of proven leisure sector player Nick Basing as CEO.

AIM-traded Essenden, with 38 leisure retail sites operating under the Tenpin brand, has had a troubled few years, with sales declining in every year since 2006. For the year to last December, Essenden reported a 7.5% fall in turnover to £58.1m (2008: £62.8m) amid economic downturn, from which it made a pre-tax loss, after one-offs, provisions and non-cash write-downs, of £11.9m.

However, Basing, who joined last year from restaurant operator Chez Gerard, says he has a number of ideas for turning Essenden around, among them changing its sites into 'general entertainment attractions, of which bowling will be a key part’. He claims to have identified areas in which Essenden can rethink old concepts, drawing attention to laser gun game Quasar, to which Essenden owns the rights at a number of sites and for which 'corporate opportunities' exist.

Earlier this year, Essenden signed a deal with karaoke operator Lucky Voice to set up a karaoke bar at its bowling centre in Cambridge. Lucky Voice provides the karaoke technology and Essenden runs the bars under its own brand, Sing Dizzy. Basing explains that the Sing Dizzy deal is part of the plan to ‘re-energise the business', adding that karaoke is a ‘robust and sound way to spend your leisure time’ and forms a key plank of his strategy to bring in new customers and encourage regulars to visit even more frequently.

Under Basing, bringing in new ideas to invigorate the Tenpin brand, Essenden, which is debt-free and highly cash-generative, could prove a worthy speculation at the current 19p, down from a 52-week peak of 41.5p.