FLIGHT CLUB Ready for launch
Mario Sequeira FCSI tells Andrea Tolu about taking charge of the first Flight Club, a unique electronic darts entertainment and foodservice concept launched in Australia
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othing can be taken for granted in foodservice. If you plan to launch a popular hospitality brand in another country hoping to replicate its success, a great start is crucial: “When it comes to introducing a new franchise concept, it's really important to get the first venue right. Once it’s accepted by the public, then you can expand with confidence,”
says Mario Sequeira FCSI Worldwide president, consultant and director of Hospitality Total Services, based in Perth, Western Australia. It was with this awareness that Sequeira took on the project of the first Flight Club in Australia. Flight Club offers a range of quality food and beverages with electronic darts, a more contemporary and accessible version of the traditional pub offer. Electronic dartboards are equipped with sensors that calculate scores automatically and recognize the darts of each player, displaying the updated score. After the first Flight Club opened in 2015 in the UK, it quickly expanded to the US. “The brand is part of a shift that’s been taking place in the last
“Flight Club is part of a shift that’s been taking place in the last 10 years, where entertainment is becoming a big part of foodservice and hospitality”
10 years, where entertainment is becoming a big part of foodservice and the hospitality industry. For entrepreneurs, it's an opportunity, as long as they find a way to blend the two amenities, while complying with all food safety and hygiene principles,” says Sequeira. The concept targets a wide demographic: “With electronic darts, anyone can play. Although the popular age group is between 25 and 40, the Flight Club is open to anyone from 18 (the legal age to go to a pub), to mature age consumers,” says Sequeira. For the launch of the first venue in Perth’s Central Business District, Capitol Corp (Australia’s sole franchisor for the Flight Club brand) brought Hospitality Total Services in early on: “We were involved from the master planning stage, when you have to decide where everything – kitchen, bar, toilets, etc – will go, or how the front and back of house are going to interact with each other. As management and design consultants, we also took care of the approvals and licences from the local and state authorities,” explains Sequeira.
Adapting to foodservice The project kicked off in November 2019. When Sequeira first set foot in the chosen location – a refurbished heritage building formerly used as a retail store, with a ground and upper floor plus a basement – he was immediately aware of the challenges ahead: “Converting an existing multi- level retail space into a food and beverage operation is not easy. If the property operated a foodservice facility before, most of the services infrastructure could be in place. If it’s a new building, then it’s even better, because you can organize it as you like.
Top: Mario Sequeira. Above: Remote condensers for the bar (and kitchen) fridges reduced heat load and noise. Opposite page: Flight Club was created within a former retail space, which caused a few issues for the design team
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