put it in a business framework that would make it survive
and make money.”
Next came finding a property – thanks to the Royal
Bank of Scotland and some heavy-duty backers, a £2.5m,
1,161.28
m
2
underground den in Holborn, decked out by
esteemed interior designer Russell Sage. It has 17 tables,
a private room, restaurant and a 12.19m-long bar serving
appropriately named cocktails, like Gin Lane Spritz and
Margarita Match.
The project wasn’t entirely without its troubles and the
property deal almost fell through twice, though Bounce’s
venue is perhaps the most serendipitous part of the entire
story. In fact, it’s almost impossible to believe... After the
deal was done, the co-founders began working with Joe
Jaques, grandson of John Jaques III, inventor of the game.
As the three men chatted about the location of the bar,
there was a revelation: they realised that the site where
they had set up shop was actually the very same place
where table tennis had been invented in 1901 – originally
PHOTOS
BRIDGEMAN ART LIBRARY/ LUCIEN DAVIS/ ©LOOK AND LEARN
ne room, one great bar and a load of
ping pong tables. As business plans
go, it must rank among the simplest
ever, yet this was pretty much the
sum total of a proposal that Dov
Penzik scribbled down in 2010. Two
years later, he’s the co-founder of
one of London’s coolest bars. Serving killer cocktails in a
suitably industrial space, metal piping on the ceiling and
exposed brickwork on the walls, Bounce is surfing a wave
that has seen table tennis – that pastime once the sole
recluse of basement nerds – become the latest nightlife
trend for discerning urbanites. Since opening in October,
it’s full virtually every night.
The idea for it came about almost purely by chance.
Penzik, an entrepreneur and former county-level player,
was at a music festival when he noticed people playing.
“
I thought table tennis was universal, as I’d always loved
it and I knew it was a social sport,” he says. “Then I went
to Glastonbury a few years ago and there was a table by
the bar, and it was absolutely rammed. It was incredible
–
people were having a great time. I could see it was a hub
that they loved being around.”
With a plan forming, the 38-year-old approached
fellow businessman Adam Breeden, who was already
enjoying success in London with another sport-bar
concept, All Star Lanes. Since launching in 2006, he had
introduced 10-pin bowling to a new generation of hipsters
through American-style diners-cum-bowling alleys.
But Breeden, 37, was unsure at first about the concept:
“
My initial thought was, ‘I don’t know if people are going
to go for this’.” But with a track record in award-winning
bars – his other venture, The Lonsdale, in West London,
won the coveted
Time Out
Best Bar award in 2003 – he
soon realised its potential.
“
Adam was looking at it from a business angle,” says
Penzik as we sit in a booth on a Tuesday evening in the
swiftly filling venue. “He applied my passion for it, and
Bounce is surfing a wave that
has seen table tennis
–
once
the sole recluse of basement
nerds –
become the latest
nightlife trend for urbanites
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