Bridges Ventures announces opening of the UK’s first indoor real snow Alpine village
At 180 metres long, the Chill Factore slope is the UK’s longest and at 100 metres wide across the nursery, leisure and lower main slopes, it is the world’s widest. Facilities include a rock climbing wall, a luge and tubing, a children’s snowplay zone and an indoor skateboard park, as well as Alpine-themed shops, bars […]
At 180 metres long, the Chill Factore slope is the UK’s longest and at 100 metres wide across the nursery, leisure and lower main slopes, it is the world’s widest. Facilities include a rock climbing wall, a luge and tubing, a children’s snowplay zone and an indoor skateboard park, as well as Alpine-themed shops, bars and cafés surrounding the ski slopes.
Snowsport GB – the body that represents all competition racing and snowboarding at international level – has established its UK national training centre at Chill Factore, while the British Disabled Ski Team will use the venue for training ahead of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
The centre employs a substantial number of staff from the surrounding areas where there is a high density of Bridges’ target areas.
Philip Newborough from Bridges Ventures said:
“We are delighted to be involved in Chill Factore. The centre will make winter sports more widely available to the general public, while Snowsport GB’s involvement is an indication of the quality of facilities available. I believe the investment will not only provide strong returns to our investors, but will be of great benefit to the local community coming from our target areas”.
David Sterland from Chill Factore said:
“We have been extremely fortunate to receive such enthusiastic support from Bridges Ventures and our other partners. The centre is a wonderful venue for people in the North West and an attractive addition to Manchester’s social scene and will also attract visitors from much further afield with almost 6.5 million people living within a 45-minute drive time.”
The investment was Bridges Ventures’ first from their second fund, Bridges CDV Fund II. Investors in Fund II include banks and financial institutions such as HSBC, Co-operative Financial Services, Lloyds TSB, Barclays Business Banking and Citigroup. Other investors include pension funds such as the Universities Superannuation Scheme and the West Midlands Pension Fund, a number of trusts and endowments such as the R&S Cohen Foundation, Comic Relief, Merton College and All Souls College, and private equity companies such as Doughty Hanson & Co and 3i as well as individuals and trusts.
Investors Royal Bank of Scotland provided a senior development loan Allied Irish Bank Pemberstones