Jonathan Peters’ finance career took him to a wide range of industries before the experience of helping a U.K. chain of movie theaters expand led to a second act in hospitality.
A role as chief financial officer at Everyman Cinemas led to a similar position working for prominent British businessman Richard Caring.
Those forays led the London native to his latest role, CEO of F1 Arcade, the Formula One-inspired entertainment chain featuring high-tech race simulators.
Peters is tasked with growing a concept that debuted in London in 2022 and now has two U.K. venues and five in the United States. The recent promotion puts him at the center of a growing sector of retail that combines interactive experiences with food and drinks.
Peters was elevated late last year from his role as global president, taking over day-to-day leadership from founder Adam Breeden. Breeden is known for creating hands-on experiences — such as Puttshack, AceBounce and Flight Club — and eventually handing over operational leadership.
Peters’ ascent to the top role comes a few years after joining F1 Arcade in its early, pre-funding stage as CFO.
“Richard Caring is a brilliant entrepreneur, and I learned a lot from him,” Peters said. “From my Everyman days taking it from 10 sites to 30 sites, I loved the growth part and I thought, Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have been right there from the start as a startup? I always had in the back of my mind that I’d love to work with a startup.”
F1 Arcade, which was developed through licensing agreements with Formula One Group, plans to continue opening multiple venues annually. That includes franchise agreements outside the United Kingdom and United States, starting in Madrid.
Peters said F1 Arcade has ongoing conversations to expand to the Middle East, Asia and Australia. New U.S. venues are on the way to Atlanta and Chicago.
CoStar News spoke with Peters about his vision for the concept’s worldwide expansion.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Are you choosing locations where Formula One is popular, or does it matter?
I think it helps, but it's not the most important thing. Obviously, with F1 in our name, there's a natural audience of F1 fans who will come in and just enjoy the venue and also come to watch parties that we have for all of the Grand Prix races. But at the same time, the concept is so fun from a broad sense that you can have never even heard of F1 and you’ll have an amazing time in our venue because the fit-out is beautiful, we’ve got fantastic food, we’ve got great cocktails and the experience itself, the simulator racing, is done in a way that you don’t have to have ever driven a car to have fun. There are five skill levels. My kids were enjoying it back when they were 5 or 6 years old, and then you have actual Formula One drivers coming in and racing at the top level.
What’s really important for us, as well, is the corporate side of the business. For example, our London venue is probably 50% large groups and corporates. If you have a group of 50 people coming in, maybe five of them are F1 fans and the rest of them might have heard of it. That doesn’t prevent them from absolutely loving the experience. The intention is to create an experience that is fun for everybody.
Are you a longtime Formula One follower?
No. Before I joined the business, not at all. I’ve come to watch it since I started, but primarily when I’m in the venues. If I’m not in a venue, I’m less likely to watch. I'll just follow it from afar. But the atmosphere of just watching the races in the venues is extraordinary. I was there for the opening race of the season last year, the Australian Grand Prix. The race started at 4 o'clock in the morning. I arrived at 2:45 a.m. There was already a line around the block of people coming in. We had 500 people in the venue watching the race at 4 o’clock in the morning. It’s incredible, so you can imagine the kind of atmosphere you have. It’s amazing having some really fanatical supporters coming in from that point of view. At the same time, on a Sunday afternoon when there isn’t a race, it’s full of families having a lovely time. You’ve got both extremes.
How does F1 Arcade fit into the broader retail move toward hands-on experiences?
I think it fits perfectly in it. People are looking for an experience, but they're also looking for quality as well. Obviously, there’s a lot of experiential businesses cropping up. Linking into the premium nature of the Formula One brand, we are trying to elevate ourselves in a way that stands out from the crowd. We don't compromise on our fit-out. We don't compromise on the level of hospitality that we are providing. We don't compromise on the quality of the food and the drinks. That’s where we're trying to differentiate ourselves in what is becoming a more and more crowded market. Having said that, the market is growing significantly because people do want something special and different and experiential. It’s all areas: families, social groups, and corporate and events as well. I think we’re well positioned to take advantage of that trend.
Are there other ways to expand the concept?
We’ve got another concept that we launched a few months ago in London. We’re experimenting with a smaller format, which we’re calling F1 Box. It’s a much smaller footprint. It’s 1,500 square feet with 12 simulators. The idea there is that it’s a racing-only format. You come in, you race, you leave. It’s something we’re experimenting with, and we’re looking at opportunities to license that all over the world, perhaps in cruise ships, airports, shopping centers, holiday parks and casinos. It’s a huge opportunity to go into very different locations than an F1 Arcade would go into.