Mikhail Hotel & Leisure Group will create an attraction featuring all old original games and the latest virtual reality games in a £3m investment at Cains Brewery. Tony McDonough reports
Entrepreneur Andrew Mikhail has unveiled the next phase of his £7m transformation of the former Cains Brewery in Liverpool – Europe’s largest retro and futuristic arcade.
Employing more than 100 people, ArCains arcade will house all old original games and virtual reality within a wholly dedicated floor as part of the ongoing redevelopment of the famous Cain’s site in the Baltic Triangle. The aim is to open the attraction later this year.
Mr Mikhail’s Mikhail Hotel & Leisure Group (MHALG) took over management of the former Cains brewery site and brand from brothers Ajmail and Sid Dusanj a year ago and has since opened a new bar called Punch Tarmey’s. It joins a host of other outlets in the now booming Baltic Triangle district.
Major investment
MHALG has invested almost £2m so far into the site at Cain’s with more than £1.7m spent on Punch Tarmey’s alone and Mr Mikhail acknowledges that the future of leisure is very much about “the experience”.
He explained: “Our planned £3m investment in the state of the art ArCains is part of our wider £7m plans for the strategic regeneration of Cain’s. Situated in the vicinity of Liverpool’s dynamic tech world, we believe that ArCains enhances the sector offer.
“Not only will the stunning arcade development offer the biggest selection of arcade games anywhere in Europe, our partners alongside many stakeholders in the area believe ArCains will be a significant addition to the Baltic creative offering that already exists.”
Pinball areas
ArCains’ features will also offer the ultimate all-day family experience with expansive pinball areas, retro arcades with a huge selection of games from the 1970s right through to today’s 2019 best of collection.
It will include a complete floor dedicated to VR, along with pool tables, basketball, and shuffle tables and will enable between 10 and 100 people to simultaneously participate as one booking.
“After dozens of glowing UK-wide sector reviews of Punch Tarmey’s in Liverpool, we are looking to take our plans for ArCains alongside great old style and futuristic food offerings to the next level,” added Mr Mikhail.
“From feedback following what we created with Punch Tarmey’s in Liverpool, we’ve inspired many UK and international operators to have a rethink about where the leisure market is heading.
“ArCains will be an extension of that and the perfect complement, adding potentially up to 100 further employees by the end of the year in addition to the 45 jobs already created by the Punch Tarmey’s brand.”