Chill Factore hit by falling skiing holidays
FALLING numbers of people taking skiing holidays is continuing to hit demand at indoor ski slope Chill Factore.
The Manchester venue said that a third year of “double digit percentage decline” for skiing holidays in Europe and North America had an indirect impact on the demand for ski lessons at indoor snow centres.
However Extreme Cool, the company that owns Chill Factore in Trafford Park, said that despite difficult market conditions it had successfully focused on maintaining revenue levels in the year to October 31, 2011 with turnover slighly down at £7.12m compared to £7.13m the previous year.
The company reduced its pre-tax losses to £285,094 from £4.95m the previous year
The increased losses meant that the company finished the period with net liabilities of £19.3m – slightly up from £18.9m last year.
In a statement in newly filed accounts with Companies House, the directors of Extreme Cool said: “The future strategy of the company remains unchanged. The operational business is profitable and cash generative but has historical liabilities derived from the original financing and build costs.
“The intention is to maintain growth in revenues and cash so as to strengthen the balance sheet and to further develop the business in the future.
“The directors expect that 2012 will continue to be challenging in terms of market conditions and progress will not be easy, but they believe the company to be well placed to develop its potential over the forthcoming year,” added the statement.
Chill Factore, next to the Trafford Centre, opened its doors in November 2007 after Extreme Cool raised around £31m from investors including not-for-profit private equity firm Bridges Community Ventures, Worcester-based property developer Pemberstone and bankers RBS and Allied Irish.
Extreme Cool completed a refinancing in August 2010 and brought in former Alton Towers sales and marketing director Morweena Angove as its new chief executive in December of that year.
