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Private Equity investment in The Climbing Hangar (Read 15156 times)

Monolith

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("delivering WOW experiences"), parkour wannabees, muscle up specialists, yogaists and crossfit refugees.   

This. Thanks for the chortle boss.

yetix

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The recently opened Boulder Hut was crowdfunded (or at least partially) https://www.crowdcube.com/companies/boulder-hut-ltd/pitches/lzOJOZ

steveri

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Boulder Hut in Ellesmere Port was crowdfunded. It's been open 3 or 4 weeks now and they've made a pretty good fist of it. Sort of Boardroom/Depot Manchester scale and plenty of space to throw more holds at it. Aimed for £1/4M and comfortably beat that (good job really - some of the projections looked a bit tight). Lots of Olympics, kids, softplay, coffee & felafel in the pitch, but it's a fine wall and definitely worth a look.

Edit: must type faster

SA Chris

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The recently opened Boulder Hut was crowdfunded (or at least partially) https://www.crowdcube.com/companies/boulder-hut-ltd/pitches/lzOJOZ

"Venue designed to serve climbers from birth onwards"

Do facilities include birthing room?

remus

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Do facilities include birthing room?

Down the hall, on the left next to the crematorium. Have a good climb!

lagerstarfish

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Investing in a climbing wall venture is something I’d be interested in -

what's the going rate for having a hold named after you in Dolly's shed?

I'll do you a 10% discount off that on my wall. I can offer you a full foothold name option for half that.

Guaranteed no resetting for at least 12 months.

fatneck

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As long as some of the cash gets put into air con, new holds they don't have to give back after loaning them and occasional guest setters (no offence Psyche, Sam and team) at the Liverpool Hangar, I'll be happy. 

Monolith

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God I miss setting. Ged, please can I set some problems if you're reading this? FOC of course.

Oldmanmatt

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As long as some of the cash gets put into air con, new holds they don't have to give back after loaning them and occasional guest setters (no offence Psyche, Sam and team) at the Liverpool Hangar, I'll be happy.
AC is such a pain in the arse in climbing centers.

You guys stop using chalk and we’ll talk about it, ok?

🤪😉

teestub

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AC (and climbing wall heating for that matter) also not a good look for the environmentally minded climber!

tommytwotone

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Interesting that Cambridge warrants a mention - I'm from round that way and think that is an area rife for development.


I suspect that Cambridge itself would be prohibitive on the rents / parking front, but somewhere like Peterborough further north, or Royston further south would be viable. Not that I'm volunteering to move there and set one up.


Leeds-wise, that's interesting news / conjecture. I drive past the now-closed PC World next to B+Q by Elland Rd and always think that'd be a good candidate. On a huge estate where that, Aldi and Maplin have all closed down, so there's loads of parking too.

Either way The Depot Leeds needs a boost / some investment, as while it's the original centre for the chain it's very much the poor cousin of the family now.




SA Chris

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Could Leeds really support another wall?

teestub

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Could Leeds really support another wall?

Even if you divided the people using The Depot in two and didn't add any additional punters I think you could still have two profitable walls.  When the Depot opened though it encouraged a lot of non climbers into climbing, so they weren't just drawing from the climbing crowd, and from what I understand the same happened at the new one in Kirkstall from the student population.

The catchment for Leeds walls is also huge due to the population density of CleckHuddersFax and Bradford.

So short answer I think is yes, if it's decent.

Paul B

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As long as some of the cash gets put into air con, new holds they don't have to give back after loaning them and occasional guest setters (no offence Psyche, Sam and team) at the Liverpool Hangar, I'll be happy.

They could start by ditching that foil blanket.

tommytwotone

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Could Leeds really support another wall?

Even if you divided the people using The Depot in two and didn't add any additional punters I think you could still have two profitable walls.  When the Depot opened though it encouraged a lot of non climbers into climbing, so they weren't just drawing from the climbing crowd, and from what I understand the same happened at the new one in Kirkstall from the student population.

The catchment for Leeds walls is also huge due to the population density of CleckHuddersFax and Bradford.

So short answer I think is yes, if it's decent.

Seconded- I thought The Lab was a speculative punt at best when I heard about it, but head down on a midweek evening and it's rammed. Rammed mostly with newbies fist-bumping each other for "crushing" a V1 but rammed nonetheless.

They've also got by far the best provision for kids in Leeds too, which is the main driver for getting me down there. Last couple of times I've been my daughter has climbed for a couple of hours and I've been lucky to sneak a warm-up in!

I still get to The Depot now and again, but my overriding experience of late is that it's over-full, and the design / safety compromises of the layout (lots of corners for punters to walk under you on, limited wall real estate meaning close proximity / crossing other lines etc) are being amplified by the volume.


spidermonkey09

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The Leeds Depot has a certain authenticity about it which I like, but its definitely crowded a bit too often for comfort. This is less of a problem when you don't mind hiding in the back room, but can be a bit wearing if you wanted to do some problems. Not sure how you fix that issue though as you can only work with the space you've got.

Leeds can definitely support another wall though. All three are consistently rammed with people, and even the Leeds Wall in its previous shit incarnation got reasonably busy. The fact thats shut won't have helped the numbers in the other three. I do think that even if the Leeds Wall 2.0 doesn't do lead climbing (surely it will?!) then it won't be long before the likes of Awesome Walls move in. Leeds is a massive catchment area as Stubs pointed out above and if the right building could be found I suspect it would be a good earner. If only I had any capital with which to give it a crack!

tommytwotone

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Not sure how you fix that issue though as you can only work with the space you've got.

Guess there are a few approaches, dependent on what / how big any new space would be. Taking my example of the defunct PC World, Steve and co could get hold of that, build a Manchester-style mega-centre. Make that a place for V0 - V5 (say), with a decent / proper / hived off area for kids and the associated parties and groups, and leave the original Depot as an "elite" centre, only catering for the (say) V4 and above climber.


If only I had any capital with which to give it a crack!

As mentioned above, surely you're the ideal person given your contacts book?!

teestub

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I still get to The Depot now and again, but my overriding experience of late is that it's over-full, and the design / safety compromises of the layout (lots of corners for punters to walk under you on, limited wall real estate meaning close proximity / crossing other lines etc) are being amplified by the volume.

One has to bear in mind that when Leeds Depot opened (almost a decade ago?) there was only really The Works and BUK existing as dedicated bouldering facilities at the time, and I remember that a lot of people then thought it was too big and you'd never get that many people into bouldering. It's a testament to where indoor climbing has come in the last few years that it now seems small and overcrowded compared to its more modern contemporaries.

Spidermonkey - I don't think anyone would take on a building the height of Leeds Wall without a view to keep the lead wall, and I assume also tap into the Olympics speed&lead training hype.

spidermonkey09

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Spidermonkey - I don't think anyone would take on a building the height of Leeds Wall without a view to keep the lead wall, and I assume also tap into the Olympics speed&lead training hype.

That is the logical conclusion to reach I agree. I heard rumours of a two tiered bouldering centre although this would require some pretty significant work to attain. I hope they stick with the roped stuff as there is a big market there. If I owned it I would set a 20m gently overhanging wall entirely with undercuts, sidepulls and shite feet and market it as a Malham specific training wall!

TTT's hypothetical 'beginner' and 'advanced' split model is an interesting one. Taking that even further would be for the OG Depot to become a sort of Schoolroom type facility, although its probably too big to be honest.


TTT - I'll see who I can whistle up!  :tumble:
« Last Edit: August 14, 2018, 01:08:36 pm by spidermonkey09 »

tommytwotone

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TTT's hypothetical 'beginner' and 'advanced' split model is an interesting one. Taking that even further would be for the OG Depot to become a sort of Schoolroom type facility, although its probably too big to be honest.


I'm not so sure - junk the two islands in the centre, do away with the kid's area (and possibly the shop too) and I think you would end up with a sensible amount of wall real estate, and then you could have decent circuits (say Wood, Purple, Yellow and Orange in the current setup) with very limited problem clash and also create less congestion / risk on the mats.

Other aspect of the Depot's popularity which I think prompts a change of approach is the parking - rocking up at 7.30pm ish as I have last few times I've really struggled to get anywhere near the car park, the overspill car park, or even the "overspill overspill" car park next to the pub!







SA Chris

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Guess when you factor in the population density of the greater area of the M62 corridor (up to A1), you're laughing.
 

36chambers

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The Leeds Depot has a certain authenticity about it which I like, but its definitely crowded a bit too often for comfort. This is less of a problem when you don't mind hiding in the back room, but can be a bit wearing if you wanted to do some problems. Not sure how you fix that issue though as you can only work with the space you've got.

Considering how busy the Depot gets, I am very grateful that it doesn't affect the back room whatsoever. Apart from the occasions when they think it's a good idea to get the youth team stretching under the 50 board :rtfm:

remus

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TTT's hypothetical 'beginner' and 'advanced' split model is an interesting one. Taking that even further would be for the OG Depot to become a sort of Schoolroom type facility, although its probably too big to be honest.

Sounds a little like what the works seem to be aiming for with the building that was recently vacated next to them. Looking at the planning docs it sounds like they're gonna use the new space as a training only/elite area which you need a year membership to access.

Will Hunt

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I'm not so sure - junk the two islands in the centre, do away with the kid's area (and possibly the shop too) and I think you would end up with a sensible amount of wall real estate

Are you at the crack, TTT? Without the central island you'd have a huge amount of floor and not that much wall.

Anyway, in answer to the question of whether Leeds can support another wall, the answer is absolutely and unequivocally "yes". I'm not aware of any truly excellent routes climbing facility in Leeds or the surrounding area.
Leeds Wall - problems are rife and well documented. One of the worst climbing facilities ever to besmirch the earth's surface.
Brighouse - Too gimmicky. Loads of bouldering area, almost none of it put to good use (primarily due to lack of height). The top roping in the old silos is atmospheric. Barely any lead climbing space.
Harrogate Wall - A good wall. Good holds, good setting (setter dependent), just needs to be bigger. Much bigger!

I do wonder what's going to happen to all these indoor bouldering places when the bubble bursts. We're a way off it yet but it's bound to happen in 15 years time or so? Can you pick up cheap trampolines yet from those hipster bounce craters yet?

teestub

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Are you at the crack, TTT? Without the central island you'd have a huge amount of floor and not that much wall.


No more so than at the Manchester Depot for example, and T3's idea is that this would only be for the l33t.

You'll be looking forward to the newly Depotised Leeds Wall then Will!

 

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