Bristol recreational entertainment centre raises the sporting bar in the UK - with help from the YFM Group
October 2006
Action Indoor Sports Stadiums, hosts of the Indoor Cricket World Cup 2007 and with Olympic standard beach volleyball training facilities, is the latest company to benefit from funding by the YFM Group.
Action Indoor Sports Stadiums, based in Bristol, has secured £750,000 venture capital funding from the YFM Group. The investment was provided by two funds; £250,000 from the South West Ventures Fund and £500,000 from The Finance South West Growth Fund. In addition, Sport England has also provided a £250,000 grant, subject to completion of the final award conditions.
The unique business model, which has already taken Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Japan by storm, gives competitive grading to its players and offers both Olympic and popular sports.
Greg Van Laun, Managing Director of Action Indoor Sports Stadiums, said: “The centre offers sporting variety, encouraging its members to play both their favourite and new sports, with fitness being improved through fun not necessarily stringent workouts. It brings together the whole community through a range of neighbourhood and corporate leagues and a chance to meet other people, maybe even network!
“The investment from the YFM Group has meant that we can now fully take advantage of a leisure market in the UK that will be worth £1.5 billion by 2009, using a proven southern hemisphere concept that has 150,000 regular participants.
“Action Indoor Sports Stadiums is different from existing players in this market as we aim to cater for the 95% of people who are keen sporting enthusiasts but are not necessarily professional level or even very skilled, but who just want to take part and get fit. We aim to make sport accessible to all.”
The funding from both The Finance South West Growth Fund and South West Ventures Fund will enable Actions Sports UK to achieve its goal of developing the site and provide a catalyst for expansion into the planned 27 sites throughout the UK and Ireland planned over the next few years.
The Action Indoor Sports Stadium is to host The Indoor Cricket World Cup in September 2007 and has made the beach volleyball facilities available for both grassroots beach volleyball coaching and talented players such as Debbie Spokes, a prospective GB Beach volleyball team member.
For spectators and budding sport enthusiasts there is an 80 metre long mezzanine bar providing a big sporting occasion atmosphere and unrivaled views on any number of games taking place.
The company is looking to create 34 jobs at its Bristol site and prides itself on offering affordable access to fitness.
Keith Masson, Principal Fund Director for The Finance South West Growth Fund, said: “This latest investment is a superb opportunity to provide financial support to an experienced team with a high quality product. The South West is rich with investment opportunities and we look forward to helping other entrepreneurs turn their ideas into market leading products.”
Julian Dennard, Investment Manager with YFM Group, managers of the South West Ventures Fund, said: “We look forward to working closely with Action Indoor Sports Stadiums and helping other companies in the region that have similar high growth potential.
“This latest investment in Action Indoor Sports Stadiums is a fantastic opportunity to support an organisation that has a proven model for success throughout the world in an ever growing market.”
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Action Indoor Sports Stadiums
• Participation and integrating as part of a team, no matter what skill level, is possible due to the handicap scoring system.
• A variety of sports is available at each venue: 3 x mainstream sports (typically including Football and Cricket), 2 x fast growing sports and 3 x Olympic sports.
• Fitness is achieved through fun not workouts, and Action Sports has a focus on entertainment for all the family.
• Membership is affordable especially off-peak and a yearly subscription is typically £40 per year.
• Currently 150,000 participants internationally in Action Sports worldwide
• Already based in Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, with a combined turnover of £75.5M.
For further information please contact Greg Van Laun on tel: 07973 155501 or email: g.vanlaun@actionsportuk.com.
Website – www.actionsportuk.com
YFM Group - South West Ventures Fund
YFM Group – South West Ventures Fund is the UK’s most active investor in the small and medium enterprise marketplace. YFM Group manages in excess of £250 million of funds with investment sizes ranging from £50,000 to £5 million. Principal offices are located in Leeds, Manchester, London and Bristol with over 40 investment professionals being employed across the UK.
The South West Ventures Fund is a £25M fund that has been set up to provide venture capital to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) based in the South West of England. Initial investment can be up to £250,000 with an ability to invest a further £250,000 after six months. In certain circumstances, alongside other new investors, the Fund can follow on its investments to provide a total of £2.5 million to one company. To date the fund has invested £3.25m in 15 companies.
South West Ventures Fund is managed by YFM Venture Finance Limited part of the YFM Group. YFM Venture Finance Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
For further information about YFM Group and South West Ventures Fund, please telephone 0117 906 3410, log on to www.southwestventuresfund.co.uk or email info@southwestventuresfund.co.uk
Finance South West
Finance South West is a business finance company with its head office in Plymouth. It works with businesses in the European Objective Two area of the South West that need finance to start, grow or change ownership.
Its speciality is to fill gaps in funding that the banks and others cannot meet. It provides the missing piece of finance that allows a commercially viable project to move ahead, and works closely with the banks, accountants and other funders.