Meet the 'big kids' behind The Escapologist in White Rose Leeds immersing visitors in fantasy wonderlands

The couple behind the magic, Ellie and Olly McClaren, launched their escape room business in Selby in 2017 after spotting a growing trend for action-packed experiences.

Now boasting sites in Castleford's Xscape and the White Rose Shopping Centre, business is booming for the pair - who have years of experience in the leisure industry.

Olly, 38, told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “We understood that the world of leisure is quickly evolving, it’s much more about an experience and creating lasting memories.

“Whatever we were going to do next, it was going to be underpinned by a word-of-mouth experience - that was going to be our strongest marketing strategy.”

Ellie, 33, added: “Another reason we went for escape rooms in retail-led areas is that it’s a thankful opportunity to replace retail on the high street, giving back to the town centres and city centres that are lacking because of closures.

“We came up with the idea for the White Rose site in a high-footfall area, blending the bar with the escape rooms to create a hybrid of what we’d done previously."

The White Rose site is home to four escape rooms, as well as a botanical-themed bar, with the popular Almost Alice room the latest theme to land at the centre.

It features fascinating tasks and intricate puzzles, ranging from completing the Wall of Hearts to placing the giant cupcake on the Mad Hatter’s table.

"It's my favourite room," Ellie said.

"You crawl through a light sensory tunnel from the forest into the fantasy land, then half way through the game you go from daytime to nighttime mode.

"All of a sudden, the wall and the art around the room transforms to a full UV experience.

“I get so giddy in that room, I feel like I’m in a completely different place. It's such a happy and vibrant room, a sensory overload with lots of brain stimulation.”

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“We’re big kids," Olly added.

“With most escape rooms there’s a puzzle key lock and a process you follow, but you’ve got to use your own imagination.

“With Almost Alice, we’ve created an environment where as soon as you walk in, you’re taken somewhere else.

“You get as many ‘wows’ from a seven-year-old child as we do from a 70-year-old man.”

The Escapologists hosts children's birthday parties and school trips, as well as catering for adults looking to add a little magic to an evening out.

Olly added: "There’s 100 different ingredients to make the perfect escape room and it’s exciting to keep remodelling it, whether it’s a magical room or a Cluedo approach.

"That’s the beauty of it; we get to play around with the model over and over again.

“With every new game we get to learn something new, that could be an idea that’s come from a team member who’s started a month ago, or something we’ve been trying to get our heads around for the last five years.

“People come in and play a 60 minute game, but the last five years has been an exciting journey for us."

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