Some escape room businesses grow steadily, and Pier Pressure grew in every direction at once. Since opening in Brighton in 2018 with a single game and three team members, they’ve expanded to four sites with 50 to 60 staff, eight permanent games in Brighton alone, and a full-time workshop that builds props and experiences for corporate clients on top of everything else. Pop-up murder mysteries, immersive experiences, outdoor games, mobile games, you name it! If it involves sending folks on puzzle filled adventures, or challenging teams to escape from rooms, then Pier Pressure has probably done it.

Pier Pressure Welwyn

They also, a few years ago, took the UK top spot on the TERPECAs (the Top Escape Room Project Enthusiast Choice Awards) three years in a row. So we spoke to Phil Harris, co-owner of Pier Pressure to find out what works.

A business built with Buzzshot from day one

Phil has been using Buzzshot since Pier Pressure first opened its doors, and we discussed what the day to day on Buzzshot looks like. Over the years, as the business grew, so did their use of the platform: from photos, customer surveys, emails and now bookings all running through the same system.

“In the old days we used to use a different app for everything. One for customer surveys, a different app for mailouts, a different app for bookings and then Buzzshot for photos. Things are so much smoother now it’s all centralised!” Phil explains.

A team photo from Pier Pressure

The shift from a patchwork of disconnected tools to one platform is something the team points to as a genuine operational improvement, and not just a convenience. For bookings specifically, Pier Pressure had been using another system for seven and a half years before making the switch to Buzzshot Bookings. It was a long relationship with a system that, in Phil’s words,

“Worked decently most of the time”,

but the problem wasn’t the software, it was the support - or rather, the total absence of it.

“I wanted a platform where I could talk to a human. If there were any issues, or if I wanted to make a feature request that would help my business and other escape rooms, knowing someone was listening and keen to help.”

That’s where Buzzshot Bookings game in. This feature is the newest thing Buzzshot has added to the platform, and it’s designed with the needs of escape room owners in mind. At the scale Pier Pressure operates - multiple sites, dozens of rooms, and hundreds of weekly bookings - getting set up with a new system could be a headache, but the team described it as

“Very smooth, and customer service is excellent. Almost no time to set up and get running!”

And they’ve been very pleased with how it’s worked since!

How Pier Pressure uses Booking Requests

But there was one feature that got Pier Pressure genuinely excited to switch to Buzzshot for: Booking Requests.

For context, Pier Pressure handles a significant volume of on-the-day bookings: players who decide that morning they want to play and want to book a slot that’s coming up fast. The traditional “call to book” approach for these situations is time-consuming, prone to drop-off, and relies on customers being willing to pick up the phone. Booking Requests changes the equation entirely.

Pier Pressure’s booking widget, powered by Buzzshot

When a player submits a booking request, Buzzshot Bookings takes their card details and pre-authorises the payment. The team at Pier Pressure gets a notification, reviews the request, then accepts or rejects it. If accepted, payment is taken and the booking is confirmed instantly. No phone calls, no chasing, and no bookings lost.

“We have definitely picked up more on-the-day bookings thanks to the Booking Requests feature,” Phil says. “So yes, revenue has increased.”

One Escape Room Platform. Everything in it.

Ask Phil to describe Buzzshot in a sentence and he doesn't need long to think about it:

"A one-stop must-have shop for any serious escape room operator."

That word - centralised - kept coming up whenever Phil talks about how Pier Pressure runs today. One system, one place, and one team operating the whole thing seamlessly. For a business that’s grown as fast and broadly as Pier Pressure, it isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s what makes scaling up as easy as possible.

What’s Next for Pier Pressure?

Phil and the team show no sign of slowing down. A new Pier Pressure escape room has just launched in Bracknell, a new game at the Welwyn site is due to open before the summer, and five new pop-up event experiences are coming to Brighton this year. With a full-time workshop, a growing team, and four sites to their name, Pier Pressure’s ambition shows no sign of slowing.

Tea Party Escape Room at Pier Pressure Brighton

With everything centralised in Buzzshot, and more than 200 bookings a week flowing through Buzzshot Bookings, they’ve got a platform that can grow with them. When asked for his closing thoughts, whether he had any advice to any other escape room owners who are considering the switch to Buzzshot Bookings, Phil described his opinion succinctly:

“Do it”

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Pier Pressure is based in Brighton, UK, with additional sites in Newhaven, Welwyn and Bracknell. Find out more and book your game at www.pierpressure.co.uk

If you're an escape room owner curious about what Buzzshot Bookings could do for your venue, schedule a call with Tom.