Air Leisure UK

Private equity fund manager and Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Venture Capital Trust (VCT) specialist Calculus Capital has invested £3m in UK trampoline park company Air Leisure UK, trading as Jumptastic, as it plans to expand into Scandinavia.

The transaction was originated by Assay Corporate Finance [since renamed Regent Evolution] and Partners, Mike Simson and Brett Stacey also advised the Jumptastic management team throughout the whole process.

Jumptastic’s highly successful first park opened in Gloucester in 2015, offering 90 interlinked trampolines over 30,000 square feet. The park attracted more than 140,000 visitors in its first 12 months. In addition to UK growth plans, the company has identified Scandinavia as a key expansion target. It is a region in which the management team – Directors Andy West, Paul Monaghan and CEO Lee Myall – have previous experience and where they believe the market has significant growth potential.

John Glencross, Calculus Capital’s Chief Executive, said: “Trampoline parks are a relatively new attraction in the UK but the activity has quickly established itself. A number of parks are already open and more are expected. The activity is already well established in the US where more than 350 parks have opened, welcoming visitors of all ages for parties, fitness training and classes. “Jumptastic has all the hallmarks we look for in an investment; it is profitable, scalable and operating in a market with huge growth potential. We favour its strong management team, attractive margins and excellent overall business model.

Lee Myall, CEO of Jumptastic, said: “The Assay advice and guidance was very important to us during this whole process and we cannot recommend them more highly to someone contemplating a similar growth funding exercise. We would like to thank Brett Stacey, Mike Simson and the rest of the Assay team for their dedicated work and commitment in getting this deal past the line.