Flight Club; Social Darts, the modern take on a darts venue, is set to open its first venue in Manchester. This will join the three sites in London and one in Chicago.
Co-founded by Adam Breeden, who was also behind Bounce and Puttshack, the new outlet will open next month on King Street.
The state-of-the-art Social Darts venue, which will be one of the largest in the UK, will include Flight Club’s feature bar and 14 oches (darts playing area) - each with its own seating area and table service, and a private room for birthdays, special events and office team-building.
Since launching in 2015, Flight Club has become a key player in the ‘experiential nightlife’ scene, credited with taking the best bits of the sport and turning it into a social experience and night out with friends or colleagues.
The venue's supercharged version of the traditional game involves multiple players (each oche will allow 12 people to play at once with tournament tech that can connect up to 150 players at once), patented dart tracking technology (designed specifically by Flight Club’s own astrophysicist), instant scoring, and a 'slick' user interface, reimagining matches into supercharged and exciting social experiences.
Bidwells helped secure planning permission and listed building consent for a venue in King Street, Manchester - a prominent corner position surrounded by bars and restaurants, earlier this month.
Bidwells Partner, Jonathan Phillips, Planning, said, “Timing was critical to meet the ambitious but exciting timetable for this brand-new leisure operation. The Manchester planning process is rigorous, so it was vitally important to maintain extensive dialogue with the council’s planning team to ensure we secured consents without any pre-commencement conditions. We’re pleased to have hit the bullseye.”
Currently found in London's Bloomsbury, Shoreditch and Victoria, and Chicago, over half a million players have, to date, thrown over 41 million darts in Flight Club venues.
Bidwells is currently investigating a further four locations, with a flagship Flight Club venue due to open at Victoria Nova later in the year.