Shops, takeaways & barbers
Every competitor in this trade sells to pubs. Meanwhile 8 of the 13 sites we run are places where people stand and wait: barber shops, vape shops, takeaways and restaurants. Waiting is dead time, and it is the easiest dead time in the country to turn into money.
The short answer
Why it works here specifically
The same machine behaves differently depending on the room it is in. This is what we have learned from the ones we run.
A pub customer has a drink, a table and a conversation. Somebody waiting for a haircut, a takeaway order or a refill has three minutes and nothing to do with them. That is not a distraction from your business, it is the gap in it.
In a bar the machine runs on people daring each other. In a shop it runs on someone with time to kill and a score on a wall. Quieter, steadier, and it does not need a crowd to get started.
Most shops have no floor space to give away, which is exactly why a machine with roughly the footprint of a fruit machine works here and a games table does not. It goes against a wall near the counter, and it does not eat the room.
Named venues
Every venue below has agreed to be named. Padel centres, a students’ union bar, a shisha lounge, restaurants, a barber shop, vape shops, an air base. The two biggest operators in this category name none of theirs.
Want to know what we are actually like to deal with? Don’t take our word for it. Go and ask them.
We’ve had the Haymaker Arcade boxing machine at both our Blackpool and Bolton sites for a while now, and it’s been a brilliant addition — members love stepping on for a quick hit between games, and it’s turned into a genuine extra revenue stream with zero hassle on our end.
The Haymaker Arcade boxing machine has been a great fit for us at Lahori Lane — customers waiting for their table love having a go, and it keeps the energy in the place going while adding a bit extra to the till each month.
Since putting the Haymaker Arcade machine in, it’s become one of those things regulars just gravitate towards — good bit of fun, no effort from our side, and a steady little earner every month.
The Haymaker Arcade machine has been a hit with personnel on base — competitive, easy to use, and a solid addition to the space with zero maintenance headache on our end.
Anyone can say they are reliable. The difference is whether they will put a name next to it and let you go and check. These venues let us use theirs. Just Padel and Shawingz each run machines at more than one of their sites. They had one, and came back for another. That is the part we would look at hardest if it were our floor space.
Placement
Where the queue actually stands. By the counter, in the waiting area, in view of whoever is next. Not in a back corner people only reach if they go looking. It needs room to swing, a standard 13A socket, and about the footprint of a fruit machine.
This is the part most operators skip, because a supplier who has already been paid has no reason to care where the machine ends up. On profit share we are not paid until it earns, which is exactly why we are fussy about the corner. What actually decides takings.
Three ways to get one
Nothing upfront, nothing to rent. We install and service it, you keep half of everything it takes.
A day, a weekend or a season. Fixed price, delivered, set up and collected by us.
Own it and keep 100% of the takings, if the site is already busy enough to justify it.
Not sure which? Compare all three side by side.
Stills from our own venues. No stock photography.
Where we cover
We work nationwide from a North West base. These towns have their own page, and most of them have a named venue on it you can go and ask.
Anywhere else, just ask. see the full coverage list.
Straight answers
Probably, and it is worth asking before assuming not. It takes roughly the footprint of a fruit machine, plus clear room to swing and a standard 13A socket. Send us a photo of the spot and we will tell you honestly whether it works, including when the answer is that it does not.
No. A boxing machine pays out no money and no prizes, so it is an amusement machine rather than a gaming machine and it does not fall under gambling licensing. There is no alcohol licence involved either, which makes a barber shop or a vape shop more straightforward than a pub, not less.
It makes noise when someone uses it and none when nobody does, and where it goes decides the rest. We will not put it where it blocks your counter or where your staff have to shout over it. Tell us about the room and we will place it around your business, not the other way round.
The person waiting, and then whoever they came in with. Lahori Lane in Manchester put it plainly: customers waiting for their table love having a go. We run machines in a barber shop, three vape shops, two takeaways and two restaurants, so this is not a theory about your trade.
Nothing. No upfront cost, no rental fee, nothing to buy. We supply, deliver, install and service it, and we split what it takes 50/50 with your half paid monthly by bank transfer. If it takes nothing, you pay nothing.
Next step
We’ll tell you whether we cover you and whether the space will work, including when the answer is that it will not.
