COVENTRY’S Ballroom Climbing Wall is scaling new heights after investing in its future success.
The business opened in the former Leofric Hotel five years ago but was forced to close due to the pandemic.
However, it is now back and attracting more visitors per day than ever for its specialist bouldering wall, which is low to the ground climbing without ropes or harnesses.
The centre received help from Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce business advisors as part of the city council-led Creative Growth and Cultural Tourism Recovery programme.
The scheme is supporting creative, tourism and hospitality businesses across Coventry, with the Ballroom Climbing Wall given specialist one-to-one advice.
The climbing wall is run by brothers Ben and Sam Prior who decided to leave their previous jobs due to a ‘passion for climbing’.
Ben said: “We decided we wanted to open our own climbing wall venue and chose Coventry even though I was living in Cambridge and Sam was living in Oxford.
“We felt it was something we could really grow in the city and that was happening – then Covid struck, so we had to close.”
“We found out about the support available through the Chamber and it has been a major help.
“Getting one-to-one advice and being able to look at how we could grow was invaluable.
“We worked with a business advisor, Chris Hartley, who was great at offering a different perspective, as well as introducing us to contacts within the city.”
As a result of the help they have been able to hire a new member of staff to the team while also investing £30,000 into venue improvements, including general upgrades and more opportunities for younger children to use the centre.
