Work has now started on a new £1.8m bowling and family entertainment development at Newport's Friars Walk, which is set to open its doors in March 2016.

Superbowl UK Newport will provide state-of-the-art ten-pin bowling lanes, a Crazy Club soft play centre and a Laser Quest arena along with an amusement arcade, retro diner and boutique bar.

The venue will be a welcome addition to the eight-screen Cineworld multiplex cinema and 11 family restaurants within the 390,000sq ft retail and leisure hub.

Behind the new development is growing UK leisure business QLP Limited, which has signed a 25-year lease on a 18,000sq ft section of the shopping complex.

In October 2015, QLP launched its second Wales site at the Merthyr Leisure Village following on from the launch of Superbowl UK Cardiff in Stadium Plaza in the centre of the city earlier this year. QLP’s third Welsh offering adds to its existing centres in Widnes, Macclesfield, Great Yarmouth and Hull.

QLP plans to invest more than £1.8m on a fit-out at Newport between now and the planned opening date in March.

The company is led by QLP Owner Kate Quaintance-Blackford, who said: “Friars Walk is a great development and it’s obviously really popular with the people of Newport and the surrounding areas. It’s exciting to be such a big part of this regeneration project and it’s a great opportunity for us to bring our distinctive brand of family entertainment to the Gwent area.

“We have been really happy with the enthusiastic response we’ve had to our Cardiff and Merthyr sites and we are looking forward to expanding our presence in Wales even further.

“We are one of very few companies in the UK offering all of these facilities under one roof and, because of that, we’re very confident about the success of the new site here in Newport.”

QLP Limited shall not only be using local trades through the fit out process but also creating 30 new jobs once Superbowl UK Newport is open.

Stuart Harris, commercial director and co-founder of Queensberry Real Estate, the firm behind Frairs Walk, said: “We chose Superbowl UK as we see them as market leaders in family entertainment centres and their opening completes the leisure offer in and around Friars Walk. Families will now have a choice of leisure activities all in one place whether it be shopping, dining, watching films, plays or sport; and now bowling, laser quest, and soft play.”