Junkyard Golf Club invests £2M in new Camden location, reduces emissions by 38%, invests £200K in its team and teases plans to open in US
Manchester-based crazy golf brand Junkyard Golf Club has announced plans to open in Camden, making it their second venue in London and seventh across the country. The opening in 2023 follows a remarkable year for the brand which includes becoming Certified Carbon Neutral, after a full-scale carbon footprint assessment and off-setting programme.
Certified Carbon Neutral
At the start of 2022, Junkyard Golf Club committed to becoming Certified Carbon Neutral by the end of the year.
Junkyard Golf Club has reduced emissions by 38%, removing the carbon equivalent of 4.5 car journeys to the moon and back out of the business. This was achieved through several initiatives, including sourcing electricity from renewable energy providers, and removing single-use plastic cups.
In 2019, Junkyard Golf Club emitted 1611 tonnes of carbon, which has been reduced to 998 tonnes in 2022, as part of their commitment to reduce emissions with support from Carbon Neutral Britain.
Sam Jones, Managing Director of Junkyard Golf Club comments: “Committing to reducing our emissions is an important topic for Junkyard Golf Club and the industry we work in. In response to feedback from our team, we all felt that this was the right path to follow and progress further in.
We are incredibly proud to announce that Junkyard Golf Club is now a Certified Carbon Neutral company, and we will continue to find ways in which to reduce our carbon footprint across all our sites, with next year’s goal to become a zero waste to landfill brand. “
Expansion
Expansion is on the horizon for Junkyard Golf Club as they look to the future by creating a guiding purpose and values that will support their growth program. Part of this investment includes launching their second venue in London, Camden in 2023, which will bring the number of venues in UK to seven, while international expansion is also on the horizon as the crazy golf brand looks to launch their business across the pond in the USA.
The Camden site, located at the former Shaka Zulu restaurant in the heart of Camden Market (The Stables Market, Chalk Farm Rd, London NW1 8AB) will see the company invest £2M in refurbishing the 19,500sq ft venue, making it their biggest to date.
The Camden launch will see Junkyard Golf Club develop their crazy golf theme and ramp up the experiential element to deliver a world-class experience for guests.
Sam Jones: “We look forward to opening Junkyard Golf Club in a fantastic location in Camden, right beside the iconic bridge in one of London’s best cultural hotspots for music, art, and history. Camden will be home to our largest venue, where we can offer our immersive, crazy golf experience to the 100,000 visitors that Camden attracts each weekend.”
The new venue at Camden will create 100 new jobs within the area.
Refurbishments and rebrand
As part of Junkyard Golf Club’s commitment to improving guest experience, £500K has been invested to improve existing venues across UK. Part of this investment has focused on making the golf courses, Bozo, Pablo, Gary, and London’s fourth course Dirk, more immersive, playable, and visually more impressive.
The refurbishment coincided with Junkyard Golf Club’s full rebrand, which was rolled out to improve every touchpoint across the business.
Sam Jones, continues: “Junkyard Golf Club began as a pop-up in 2015 and at the time, we genuinely believed we would only be hosting the pop-up experience for about three weeks”
Seven years, six locations and one pandemic later, it’s obvious we’re here to stay. We are always reviewing our brand position, but this year felt the right time to review our branding and marketing strategy in a way that reflects where we are heading as a company and to strengthen the message that we evolve and stay relevant to our customers.”
Charity Commitments
During this year, Junkyard Golf Club has also raised an astonishing £32K for charities. £14.3K was raised for a charity close to the brand’s heart–Love Support Unite Foundation, by selling 1,430 Love Specs glasses [heart shaped glasses that turn every light into a rainbow of hearts.] All profits went towards helping empower communities in Malawi to help lift communities out of the cycle of poverty into a cycle of sustainability, as well as building schools.
For local LGBTQ+ charities, selected by Junkyard Golf Club’s teams on site, they raised an astonishing £17.7k from selling 3,209 Pride cocktail specials.
Investment in People
In further news, Junkyard Golf Club is proud to share their commitment to being a Real Living Wage employer, meaning their hourly pay structure has increased by 8.1% in London and 10.1% across the rest of the country. The long-term investment in their people is based on Junkyard Golf Club’s values and belief that a team with good compensation and working conditions is best placed to provide the best experience for their guests.
In a further commitment to supporting careers with the company, Junkyard Golf Club has invested £200K in a new team training programme, more than doubling their annual training budget.
Leigh Caroll, Learning and Development Manager says: “Investing in the career development of our teams is core to our people policy, and as part of this programme we spent six weeks on the road training every team across the country on the values of Junkyard Golf Club and putting guests at the heart of the experience.
Introducing eight new modules to focus on brand advocacy and standards, it is vital for us to reconnect with our teams following the impact of Covid, and to bring everyone together as a reminder to have fun at work, while building aspirations for our teams to develop their careers within hospitality.”
Junkyard Golf Club will announce further details regarding their Camden opening in January 2023
