The boss of Hollywood Bowl has said it has shifted to hiring staff with experience over younger people seeking their first job because of cost increases that have put a “premium” on entry-level positions.
Stephen Burns, chief executive of the 10-pin bowling alley operator, took aim at tax rises and minimum wage increases which he said had prompted the firm to change its approach to hiring.
He is the latest to warn over shrinking entry-level job opportunities after the boss of Next said on Tuesday that there was a “crisis in youth unemployment”.
Mr Burns told the Press Association: “Hospitality is a gateway employer… people come to us for their first jobs.
“We’re now paying a significant premium for those people who are coming for their first jobs, so of course we’re therefore going to focus on experienced team members.
“Whereas previously, you’d take an inexperienced team member and pay them less, train them up, then get them into the workplace, and then they’d earn more once they’d got to that level of experience.”
He added that employers were “not paying much more now for a really experienced 21-year-old who knows how to work the bar and knows how to deal with customers”.
“So it’s a problem and it needs addressing.”
The national minimum wage increased again in April to £12.71 an hour for those aged 21 and over, and £10.85 for those aged 18-20.
People aged 21-22 previously had a lower minimum wage than those aged 23 and over, but the age threshold came down from April 2024.
Mr Burns said the most “pain” for businesses was coming from “Government-led increases” including the minimum wage, as well as national insurance contributions, business rates and corporation tax uplifts.
“They’re the things that have put the biggest pressure on profits,” he said.
But Mr Burns insisted the leisure firm continues to hire students and people in entry-level roles particularly at busier times such as the school summer holidays.
The boss also said the business has “only needed to modestly increase our prices” to keep pace with inflation, largely because bowling and amusements are largely cushioned from the effects.
“Anyone can put prices up – it’s a super easy lever to pull which gives you an immediate short-term profit impact,” Mr Burns told PA.
“But what we need to do is make sure that we’re accessible to the wide community.”
But he said Hollywood Bowl does use dynamic pricing, which means it can adjust prices at peak or off-peak times to meet demand.
This can see prices cut from a base of around £6.50 to as low as £3.50 a game at quieter times, but lifted by a maximum of 50p a game at peak periods.
The chief executive said the business has focused on remaining affordable and that a family of four can bowl for £26 in the UK.
It comes as Hollywood Bowl said its revenues totalled £141.5 million for the six months to the end of March, up 9.5% compared with the same period the year before.
Compared like for like with a year ago, which strips out the impact of new store openings, sales rose by 2.6% in the UK.
The average amount that people spent at a bowling alley, on things such as food, drink and additional games, was £12.77 in the UK during the latest period, up 7.6% on the prior year.
