Built on Real Experience
Everything I teach has been tested in my own business first.
In 2013, I co-founded clueQuest, now the UK's longest-running escape room. Over the past decade, I've helped grow it from a small independent business into one of the world's leading escape room brands.
Running clueQuest has given me first-hand experience in every aspect of building a successful business, from marketing and pricing to recruitment, operations, customer experience and long-term strategy. The successes, as well as the mistakes, have shaped how I approach every client I work with today.
Some milestones from the journey include:
Welcoming over 500,000 players from around the world.
Creating award-winning indoor, outdoor and play-at-home experiences, including multiple TERPECA-recognised games.
Building one of the UK's largest escape room venues with dedicated conference and meeting facilities.
Growing a talented international team capable of running the business day to day.
Successfully navigating the challenges of COVID-19 and emerging stronger than before.
Why I Founded Zolitopia
In 2021, I took a short sabbatical from clueQuest to think about what I wanted my next challenge to be.
I realised that the most rewarding part of my journey wasn't simply building a successful business, it was sharing everything I'd learned along the way. Over the years I'd made countless mistakes, tested hundreds of ideas and discovered what genuinely helps an escape room business grow. I wanted other owners to benefit from those lessons without having to learn everything the hard way.
That's why I founded Zolitopia.
Today I work with escape room businesses across the UK, Europe and North America, helping owners improve their marketing, operations and long-term strategy. Whether launching a brand-new venue or helping an established business reach its next stage of growth, my goal is always the same: to build stronger, more sustainable businesses.
Giving Back to the Industry
One of the principles behind Zolitopia is that knowledge shouldn't only be available to paying clients.
Alongside my consultancy work, I dedicate a significant amount of my time to projects that benefit the wider escape room community.
Since founding Zolitopia, I have:
Organised free industry roundtables where operators openly discuss challenges, successes and best practices.
Spoken at conferences around the world, sharing practical lessons from building and running escape rooms.
Published educational articles and free resources covering marketing, operations and business development.
Supported fellow operators through online communities by answering questions and sharing practical advice.
Encouraged businesses to build sustainable organisations that create meaningful career opportunities for their teams.
I believe a stronger industry benefits everyone. By openly sharing knowledge and encouraging collaboration, I hope to help create better businesses, better workplaces and ultimately better experiences for players.
Beyond Consultancy: Building Better Businesses
Consultancy can identify opportunities, but lasting change comes from putting ideas into practice.
That's why I co-founded BeBoldR, a specialist marketing agency focused on helping escape room businesses grow through digital marketing, websites, email marketing and creative campaigns.
BeBoldR allows me to take the strategies developed through Zolitopia and turn them into measurable results for operators who need ongoing support. At the same time, every campaign, experiment and success feeds back into the educational work I share with the wider community.
Whether through consultancy, marketing services, conference talks or free educational initiatives, my mission remains the same: to help build a stronger, more sustainable escape room industry.