An expanding darts retailer has hit the bullseye after landing a lightning-fast deal to secure a prime unit in Nottingham’s Bridlesmith Gate.
DartsScene, which opened its first store in Heanor a year ago, has secured premises at 52 Bridlesmith Gate in a deal that took just four days to complete.
The premises, owned by ALB Group, were let through Nottingham property firm FHP.
The store will now undergo a fit out and is due to open on Saturday, May 23. Darts content creator and player Charlie Murphy will open the store.
Arran Bailey, managing director of ALB Group, said:
“We are delighted to welcome DartScene to Bridlesmith Gate, an historically popular city street.
“While the demise of the Broadmarsh Centre and the pandemic both dented the footfall on this iconic thoroughfare, that glitch has now been turned around by investment and high-profile businesses returning to the location. Now home to the likes of The Ivy Nottingham and Watches of Switzerland it is once again flourishing having re-established itself as a go-to location in the city.”
Interest in the sport has snowballed in recent years. Dubbed the “Luke Littler effect”, viewing figures released by Sky Sports showed the 2024 PDC World Darts Championship final drew a record audience of more than 4.8 million, with a peak of 3.71 million watching live.
Sky’s figures for the following year’s final also remained strong, averaging 2.7 million with a peak of around 3.1 million.
DartScene currently operates from Derby Road in Heanor. The Bridlesmith Gate venue will be its second premises.
Fuelled by a renewed interest in the sport nationally, the success of the Heanor store has led to the business’ rapid expansion.
Ryan Clarke, director at DartScene, said:
“Thanks to players like Luke Littler, who has shown that a young lad can compete with the best, darts is no longer seen as just a pub game and has grown in popularity.”
Former roofer, Ryan, 33, swapped his career of 12 years to follow his passion for the sport.
He said:
“My love of darts stems from playing with my grandad from an early age. It’s a game that brings together the generations. In the Heanor shop we get kids of 6 or 7 coming in with their dads and grandparents.”
DartScene in the city aims to offer a total darts service and will stock a comprehensive range of darts, boards and related products as well as providing expert guidance with advice from people who “live and breathe darts”.
Ryan said:
“We’ll offer an on-site repointing service while you wait and will operate a ‘try before you buy’ policy with boards set up in store allowing customers to experiment with a full range of darts, shafts and flights”.
The larger Heanor branch also provides a ‘board hire by the hour’ facility set up with professional oches for solo or team practise.
As the Heanor business goes from strength the strength, Ryan says that expansion was always planned.
He said:
“We were originally looking at out-of-town locations for our second branch but when Ellis Cullen at FHP showed us the Bridlesmith Gate location it was bang on. The building won’t require much work to make it the perfect place for us and establish this as the darts place to be.
“Having spoken to the surrounding retailers, who described increasing footfall on the street, coupled with the ongoing redevelopment of the Broad Marsh area, we moved at speed to secure these premises.”
Ellis Cullen, surveyor at FHP, said:
“This was one of my speediest deals to date, with the viewing undertaken Tuesday afternoon, by Wednesday we had Heads of Terms in circulation and thanks to the ALB team we were holding signed documents and completed by the Friday!
“Dealing with a business like ALB Group is always a pleasure. The speed and efficiency at which Kerrie Ronayne and the ALB team worked on the legals unlocked this deal for us and ensured the tenant achieved the result they wanted.
“We knew this unit would be right for DartScene. Bridlesmith Gate is once again a thriving and prime city centre location with a strong tenant mix. This is testament to the latest round of lettings FHP has had involvement with on Bridlesmith Gate.”
Posted on 28 April 2026
