Goals finds back of the net with sales rise

The East Kilbride-based group has added 10 new centres to its estate in the last two years – most recently at Sunderland, Liverpool, Norwich and Hull – and increased capacity by 31 per cent as a result.

However, it kicked new centre openings into touch earlier this year in a bid to focus on the performance of its 42 UK centres and as it tackles an appeal against the taxman’s change in VAT status for block league bookings.

It hopes to restart new pitch openings in 2013 but in the meantime it has started 2012 with total sales up 6 per cent in the first eight weeks of the year.

In 2011, sales were up 9 per cent but at a like-for-like level the figure was down 2 per cent as a result of the impact of the VAT dispute, with an appeal on the issue due to be heard during the second half of 2012.

Stripping out the VAT impact, the group saw a 1 per cent rise in like-for-like sales, while underlying profits increased by 11 per cent to £13.8m.

Game’s final new centre of the expansion drive will open in Chester next month and feature a new modular build strategy that will reduce costs going forward but also enable the company to cut build time.

A typical Goals centre has between nine and 14 floodlit courts with pitches made from artificial grass, which is designed to look and feel like real turf, parking for about 100 cars and a licensed bar. Around 73 per cent of its revenues came from football bookings during 2011, it added.