Bar set to bring axe throwing and crazy golf to Manchester city centre leisure hub the Printworks

The Printworks complex in central Manchester. Photo by Gary M. Prior/Getty Images

A bar aiming to bring a “competitive edge to nights out” by offering games such as axe throwing and crazy golf has been given the go ahead to open in Manchester’s Printworks.

Boom Battle Bar, which has sites in Liverpool and Cardiff, will take over a vacant venue in the entertainment complex formerly occupied by late-night bar Lazy Lizard.

DTZ Investors has been seeking to breathe new life into the Printworks, which it bought for £108m in 2017, by embarking on a major refurbishment and attracting new occupiers.

The real estate firm submitted a planning application to Manchester council seeking to change the use of the Lazy Lizard unit to allow Boom Battle Bar to take it over.

Last week the council approved the plans to turn the former nightclub into a ‘competitive socialising venue’ including a licensed bar and restaurant.

Customers will be able to try their hands at axe throwing, digital darts, crazy golf, shuffleboard, pool, marble racing and table tennis.

Axe throwing will be on offer at Boom Battle Bar in the Printworks

Activities are hired out for an allotted period of time for someone to play alone or with a group of up to eight people.

Families and people of all ages will be able to take part, though after 7pm only over-18s are permitted in the venue itself.

Planning documents suggest that Boom Battle Bar will create up to 30 full-time jobs.

It will be allowed to open from 10am to 2am Monday to Saturday, and from 11am to 11.30pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays.

Alongside the Manchester site, the company is also planning to open branches in Leeds, Blackpool, Sheffield, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Eliot Shuttleworth, chief executive of Boom Battle Bar, said: “We are thrilled to be sharing our Battle Bar concept with the people of Manchester.

“The response we’ve had to existing venues has been awesome and we really can’t wait to bring this revolutionary concept to Printworks.

“Socialising is evolving and we want to play our part in that; bringing a competitive edge to nights out with your mates, dates, and anyone else that fancies having a go.”