Asia’s largest gaming café brand, Wanyoo, has confirmed a second UK site at the Cathedral Lanes development in Coventry City Centre. The esports operator has agreed to a new 15-year lease.
The flagship London store opened earlier this year, offering customers multi-purpose gaming facilities, professional esports equipment and gaming PCs. The café will cater to the more hardcore esports community, as well as casual gamers.
“I wanted to develop a gaming environment and social platform for the entire community; one that would allow people to have fun, relax, interact and socialise,” said, Zhaorong Chen, a director at Wanyoo UK.
“We have gone from strength to strength in Chinatown London, and now with an established student community, we can’t wait to bring this concept to a whole new customer base in Coventry. Shelley Sandzer has been instrumental in helping us secure this perfect location at Coventry’s leading new leisure scheme.”
Launching in 2015, Cathedral Lanes is a leisure quarter development in the heart of Coventry city centre, comprising of a multitude of restaurants including The Botanist, Wagamama, and Zizzi. For the new location, Shelley Sandzer acted for Wanyoo and Savills advised the Shearer Property Group.
“Wanyoo is a pioneering brand leading the way in esports in the UK, so we are proud to work on their behalf in securing this prime site at Cathedral Lanes. We look forward to continuing our strong relationship with the brand as they build their UK portfolio.” said, Etai Page, leasing agent at Shelley Sandzer.
SEE ALSO: Asia’s largest gaming café chain Wanyoo to open esports studio in London this month
Carlene Hughes, leisure director at Savills, added, “Gaming and esports is set to take the UK leisure sector by storm over the next couple of years, having already proved hugely popular across Asia and the USA.
“With an astounding following in China, Wanyoo is one of the biggest gaming café chains in the world, so it’s really exciting that they’ve chosen Cathedral Lanes as their second UK destination, reinforcing the viability of the development and adding to its already strong occupier line-up.”
Backed by a £21 million ($26 million) investment from Sicong Wang (Sephirex), the son of the Chinese billionaire Jianlin Wang, Wanyoo first entered the European market in January with the opening of their first site at Charing Cross Road in London.
Esports Insider says: With quite a few gaming spaces popping up in London, it’s great to see Wanyoo expanding outside and reaching new audiences. With gaming cafes becoming more and more popular, there is a real chance that in years to come you will find one in every major city.
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