The opening of a“Crystal Maze style” entertainment experience called Prison Island in Belfast has given the city a jobs boost.
Ten full and part-time jobs have been created with the opening of the 7,000 square foot venue.
Lisburn businessman, Ryan Lyttle is behind the venture, an international franchise with over 30 locations across Europe and now the first Prison Island has launched on the island of Ireland.
Originating in Sweden, the Prison Island concept is a collection of stylized cells each offering puzzles and challenges that teams from 2 to 4 people can compete to score points.
Ryan explained, “We currently have 25 cells with plans to expand in the future. It’s different to an Escape Room as participants are free to move in and out of each cell to try the challenges in any order they wish.
"Each game varies in difficulty and style, some test your agility, others teamwork, physicality or logic. You can try a game again if you think you can improve your score and the system is fully automated with live scoring. Ultimately, it’s about having fun as a team, whilst trying to score as many points as possible”.
Prison Island Belfast has seen an investment of over £400,000 in creating the facility that is aimed at participants from 9 years to 99.
Ryan Lyttle spent 22 years working with PepsiCo as an account manager for the FMCG sector in Northern Ireland and lives in Lisburn with his wife and three children.
“I always wanted to start my own business and this new franchise opportunity caught my attention when my family were on holiday abroad. I carried out a lot of research, visiting a number of established venues in Europe and was confident it would be a success in Belfast.
"We opened the doors at the end of November and already the customer feedback has been fantastic. Our aim is to make Prison Island Belfast one of the top leisure facilities in Northern Ireland”, added Ryan.
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