Meet Rich Beese, Co-Founder at Experiential Concept Company: We Do Play

Tell us about We Do Play

My company is We Do Play – we specialise in creating unforgettable, immersive leisure and hospitality concepts. We create fun, high-energy spaces where people can come together and enjoy innovative and engaging experiences – sometimes thrilling and active, sometimes immersive and captivating, but always original, magical and fun. Our product really is fun!

We Do Play now incorporates Flip Out (the first and biggest indoor adventure park group in the UK), Putt Putt Social (the UK’s leading Asian-inspired adventure golf, drink and dining experience), and our partnership with Activate in the UK. Activate is the first tech-led social gaming experience in the UK and has recently opened at the O2 in London. Boom Battle Bar was also previously co-owned by We Do Play. We set up Boom Battle Bar during covid and it did so well that it is the largest competitive socialising concept by way of locations in Europe. A lot of opportunity has spun out from there.

How did you come up with the idea for the company?

I had some experience in the leisure and hospitality industry and recognised the shift toward more interactive, immersive forms of entertainment, especially those that could appeal to both children and adults. I could see that the focus should be not just on entertainment for the sake of fun but on providing unique and engaging experiences that could be enjoyed by groups, families, and individuals alike. I saw an opportunity to bring something that was proving very successful in Australia to the UK – and I jumped on it.

I think we are unique as a company having multiple entertainment brands in this competitive socialising space that cater to a diverse range of audiences. Each of these concepts brings something unique to the table, changing the way people interact with entertainment and leisure activities in the UK.

What is your advice to aspiring entrepreneurs?

Use your experience but follow your instincts. The best ideas come from an awareness of the current zeitgeist: knowing the emerging trends within an industry and filling the need in the market, so look at an industry you are familiar with and see where the trends are and where the gap is. You have to have a global vision – quite often the trends are coming from abroad.

Also you need to move quickly, so act fast and innovate – to get ahead of the competition.

What most excites you about We Do Play?

The fact that the market for competitive socialising is still relatively new – so there are lots of untapped opportunities.

For instance we’ve just launched the UK’s first tech-led social gaming experience, Activate, which has taken North America by storm, in London at The O2. It’s not like anything else out there and has already proved so popular that we’ve got plans to open four more this year. The next one is going to open in Newcastle’s Metrocentre this summer followed by Leicester and London’s Oxford Street.

Its popularity reflects the fact that the trend for competitive socialising is still growing fast. According to Mintel, more than two thirds of the population took part in some form of competitive socialising last year, up from just over half before the pandemic, and a major UK property firm’s recent research shows that the number of competitive socialising venues in the UK has risen by 40 per cent to nearly 600 since 2018.

So the potential in this market really excites me: finding the next big thing that people will want to do, and the appropriate space to do it in. I love creating experiences that bring people together.

How has the company evolved over the last couple of years?

We have added many successful brands to the company to grow the portfolio. We’ve also entered into some great collaborations: we’ve found experiences that have been successful in other countries, and we’ve partnered with them to launch in the UK. We are growing the number of brands we look after and rolling out great experiences across the country rapidly.

What can we hope to see from We Do Play in the future?

We Do Play will continue to expand its footprint in the leisure and entertainment space. The recent partnership with Activate is the latest addition and we’ve already identified four more locations to roll out to in the UK by the summer.

We will continue to innovate and surprise the market. I’m always on the look-out for fresh and engaging ideas and want to continue the company’s expansion and the reach of our brands and explore new concepts that push the boundaries of entertainment and leisure. There are always new ways to have fun!