Roxy Leisure takes on ex-NWTC star as ops director

30-Oct-2024 - Last updated on 30-Oct-2024 at 09:42 GMT

Huge opportunities: Leane King is excited about the expansion plans at Roxy Leisure

Roxy Leisure, operator of 19 competitive socialising sites across the UK, has appointed Leane King as operations director.

King joins the group, which rebranded to Professionals at Play in August, after serving 11 and a half years at The New World Trading Company.

She helped the Graphite Capital-owned bars and restaurants business grow from 2 to more than 30 sites nationwide.

King brings more than 18 years of experience in the hospitality industry to the role at Roxy Leisure.

She joined The New World Trading Company as a general manager in 2013, taking on the roles of senior operations manager and regional manager before being appointed as head of operations in 2022 and regional operations director in 2023.

King led a national team of 25 operational managers, overseeing 22 direct sites to drive growth, while maintaining brand identity and core company values.

Publican and GBPA awards

She was a key member of the senior team that helped secure 25 Publican Awards, and eight Great British Pub Awards, as well as achieving three, consecutive top 10 positions in the Sunday Times Top 100 Best Companies list.

King said: “I am thrilled to be joining Roxy Leisure as operations director.

“I’ve been a huge fan of the brand for many years now and have admired the team’s ambitious nature and passion for creating a great company culture.

“Entering the competitive socialising environment provides a new sector full of huge opportunities for me personally and I’m looking forward to supporting Roxy with its exciting expansion plans.”

The move to rebrand by Roxy Leisure Holdings created a group brand for its competitive socialising operators Roxy Leisure and Pins Leisure.

The rebrand to Professionals at Play was also bolstered with a management restructure, with new chief operating officer, Colin Sadler, appointed to take the group forward.

Detailed knowledge

Roxy Leisure was founded by brothers Matt and Ben Jones and now includes the Roxy Ball Room and Roxy Lanes brands.

It operates 19 sites across UK including venues in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Sheffield, Leicester, Cheltenham, York and Leeds, with plans to open a first London site in 2025.

Professionals at Play COO Colin Sadler said: “We are delighted Leane has joined the Roxy team.

“She has great experience from New World Trading Company and a detailed knowledge of working in busy high street bars.

“It’s an exciting time for Roxy as we look to cement our position as one of the country’s leading competitive socialising businesses and we are confident Leane’s appointment will help us achieve this goal.”