New indoor climbing centre opens in Cheltenham

Published by

Nicky Godding

An indoor climbing company has opened its second site, an 8,000 sq ft specialist bouldering centre in Cheltenham.

Cardiff headquartered Boulders Limited has used a £238,500 funding package from NatWest to developthe unit on Centrum Park into an indoor bouldering centre.

The space now offers custom-built bouldering surfaces across the ground and mezzanine floor, suitable for all ages and climbing abilities. The facility also offers group sessions of varying sizes, as well as one-to-one lessons.

The company is now working to developing a second site, at Cardiff West and are currently working with the landowner.

Avid climber Ollie Noakes co-founded Boulders in 2008, opening the first site at St. Catherine’s Park in Cardiff, which now has nearly 40 full and part-time staff. The 15,000 sq ft centre has both roped climbing walls and an expanding bouldering area, as well as a training area, café and shop.

The Cardiff centre was forced to close on the 20^th March due to the coronavirus pandemic but has since secured CBILS funding from NatWest and a grant from the Welsh Government Economic Resilience Fund to safeguard the future of the business.

Additional social distancing and health and safety measures have been put in place to ensure the protection of climbers, including hand washing stations on arrival, reduced numbers on site at any one-time, pre-booked time slots, enhanced cleaning procedures and temperature checks on arrival.

Director Ollie Noakes said: “We have been waiting for the government’s go-ahead to open Boulders Cheltenham and the day has finally come. Our focus has always been on making climbing as inclusive and accessible as possible, and as we expand our footprint, we hope to introduce even more people to the sport. The support from our climbers during the current pandemic is testament to what a tight-knit community climbing can create.

“The initial NatWest funding helped us open our second centre and the CBILS loan has helped us get through the uncertainty of the last 12 weeks."

Matt Maunder, NatWest Relationship Manager, said: “Ollie and the team are passionate and that is evident in the success of the Cardiff East centre and something that they will replicate in Cheltenham. We are proud to have supported Boulders both through the pandemic and with its next stage of growth.”

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.