1. First things first, what inspired you to start Breakout?

The reason I started Breakout is that I have always had an affinity for puzzle. My favourite TV program growing up was the crystal maze and I have always loved the puzzle element of computer games such as the dungeons in Zelda. I walked past the first escape room that opened in the UK, London in 2013 and before I'd even played it I'd already come up with a plan on how I was going to bring the concept to Manchester.  From a personal side, prior to opening Breakout I worked in the night-time event industry for over 8 years and was getting pretty fed up of it so wanted a complete career change.

2. What are your future plans for Breakout?

Next on the agenda is the completion and launch of two new rooms that the company have been working on for a while. I'm not going to reveal the themes to you (maybe that's why you are reading this blog), but we are all really excited about these rooms. One includes Augmentative Reality technology and the other is also very technologically advanced, This would mean that we'd have a total of 17 rooms, which I believe would make us the escape room with the most games in any one city in Europe

3. Do you think escape rooms have a shelf life?

Part of me would like to think that they do not but I guess nearly everything has a shelf life. As long as the rooms keep getting better and original ideas are implemented in the rooms, I think they have a very long shelf life. Our rooms have come so far since launching, as an example of this, in our original detective room customers had to put a laser pen on a piece of blue tack which then hopefully pointed to Brazil (it rarely did)! If we keep innovating, I believe we will be around for at least then next 5 to 10 years at which point robots will have probably taken over the world!

4. What is your favourite room and why?

: Sabotage, this is because it was the first (good) one that I designed, and I think it flows very well. It is a difficult game but teams who have played a few games normally love it. There a nice mixture of puzzles in it that link well with the theme.

5. A random question, what is your favourite website:

www. cat-bounce.com/ Why? what is not to love about bouncing cats!!!

6. Your background is in marketing; how important do you think transferring those skill to breakout?

Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and been of vital importance to the development of breakout. Those platforms have allowed us to connect and communicate with our audience over the past 5 (soon to be 6) years. At uncertain times like these this is more important than ever.

7. What effect do you think Covid - 19 will have on your business? 

.com/ boom and bust, the financial crash in 2008, 9 / 11, both world wars – These major events show us how resilient business and people are. Firstly, my thoughts go out to everyone that has been affected by Covid – 19. It really puts a perspective on life. Due to government assistance, understanding creditors and a lot of negotiation Breakout will survive this crisis.

We have not laid a single staff member off and are hoping to bounce back stronger than ever. Before the government guidance told us to close, we had already put in many social distancing measures and extra hygiene and cleaning procedures. The safety of our customers is always at the fore front of everything that we do.

8. Finally, you were educated through the Welsh language. Can you say something in welsh please?

Cenedl heb iaith, cenedl heb galon - A nation without a language is a nation without a heart.