F1 Arcade has announced that Jonathan Peters, formerly the global president, has been appointed to the role of chief executive officer to lead the company’s growth ambitions.
Founder Adam Breeden and co-founder Diane Jervis will transition to non-executive director positions as the company grows and enters new markets. They will keep supporting the company in key strategic areas while stepping back from daily operations.
This evolution aligns with Breeden’s long-standing approach across his successful experiential ventures, where he has guided creation and initial growth, then delegated operational leadership to capable management teams as the business expands.
Expansion plans
The expansion plans entail opening a 15,000-square-foot venue in Atlanta and launching its first mainland European location in Madrid. This venue is a franchise developed in collaboration with Top Racing Iberia, a joint venture between Top Entertainment Iberia (TEI) and Orca Holdings.
Highlighting the product’s scalability, F1 Arcade recently launched its compact arcade experience, F1Box, at London’s Westfield Stratford City before its global expansion.
Supported by Formula 1 and Liberty Media, F1 Arcade is a pioneering F1 experiential hospitality brand that provides a gaming experience that replicates the excitement of F1 racing.
It opened its first venue in London in 2022 and later expanded to Birmingham. In April 2024, it launched its first US location in Boston Seaport. As part of its expansion strategy, F1 Arcade has also opened in four more US cities: Denver, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and Las Vegas.
Additional franchise sites and concepts are currently in development.
F1 Arcade has bolstered its leadership team as part of its growth, hiring experienced professionals from hospitality, sports, and entertainment.
Adam Hughes, former European finance director at Soho House, is now CFO. Tom Littlechild, former head of brand at Formula 1 and marketing and communications director at The O2, becomes the interim chief marketing officer. Janene Pretorius joins as chief people officer after roles at The Wolseley Hospitality Group and The Ivy Collection.
What it takes to drive the business forward
The business advances with robust backing, raising $130m in 2024 from Cheyne Capital, Liberty Media, Permira Credit, and OakNorth, after an earlier £30m round led by Liberty Media and Formula 1 in 2023.
Breeden says: “F1 Arcade has been an extraordinary journey, seeing the business grow from an idea into a category-leading brand with a clearly defined global roll out has been immensely rewarding.
“Jonathan and I have been working together since the foundation of the business in 2020 and throughout this time he has consistently demonstrated outstanding leadership, commercial clarity, and a deep understanding of what it takes to drive the business forward.
“He is exceptionally well placed to lead the next phase of growth as we capitalise on strong foundations we have built with a clear global expansion strategy.”
Peters adds:
“F1 Arcade is entering a momentous new stage as a scale-up, and I am excited to take up the CEO role to lead the business through our most ambitious phase to date. We have strong investor backing, a proven concept and a well-defined international expansion plan.
“My focus now is on turning that opportunity into sustained growth. I look forward to building on our huge achievements so far.”
Stephen Murphy, chairman of F1 Arcade, says:
“Jonathan brings the strategic and operational capability needed for F1 Arcade’s next phase of expansion.
“With a strong pipeline and the first franchise sites now in development, the business is in prime position to accelerate its growth in the UK, the US, and new international markets.”
See also: Momentum in the competitive socialising space – a visit to F1 Arcade
