Minimum wage rise 'painful', says Hollywood Bowl

The latest increase in the UK's minimum wage is "quite painful", the boss of Hollywood Bowl has said, and the firm may need to raise prices next year.

Stephen Burns told the BBC the rise had provided an "unexpected hit".

His comments came as the UK's largest 10-pin bowling operator reported record revenues for the year to September.

The National Living Wage for workers over 23 will increase to £11.44 per hour from April, from £10.42.

The government has also applied the same rate to 21 and 22-year-olds for the first time, lifting it from the current rate of £10.18 an hour.

The rises represent a 9.8% increase for over-23s, and a 12.4% jump for workers aged 21 and 22.

Speaking to the BBC's Today programme, Mr Burns said the increase was "an unexpected hit - we budgeted for it to go up by around about 7.7%".

The new rate was "quite painful", he added, costing the company about £600,000 in the second half of the current financial year, and £1.2m on an annual basis.

"Clearly it's put a bit of pressure on," he said.

"We have managed to keep our prices pretty low to try and mitigate that but we may need to do something again towards the mid or the end of the year."