Boulders Ltd

Business profile

Location: south east Wales

Sector: leisure

Web site: www.bouldersclimbingcentre.co.uk

Investment

Amount: £54,000 (part of a £525,000 syndicated investment with xénos angel investors)

Type: equity

Executive: Karen Davies

Why we invested

Boulders’ founders needed the right co-investment to achieve their objective: a state-of-the-art climbing facility in Wales.

They invested heavily into their own venture and demonstrated a strong business plan to a syndicate of xénos angel investors. BPU Chartered Accountants provided Boulders with business advice and planning.

The outcome

Boulders opened Wales’ largest climbing wall in 2008. It attracts up to 4,000 visitors a month and achieved a turnover of £320,000 within its first six months.

The company now plans to increase its annual turnover to £1 million by growing its share of the adult fitness, corporate training and education markets. Boulders also plans to expand the business to other sites across Wales and the UK over the next few years.

Testimonials

"We wanted to create an ultra-modern facility where people could challenge themselves physically and mentally, 360 days a year. Identifying the right funding for the business has been crucial.” Rob Lawrence, managing director, Boulders Ltd.

"Boulders Ltd demonstrated a strong business case and its business model is clearly scalable. We were impressed by the founders’ ambition and commitment. This all made the investment opportunity very attractive." Karen Davies, investment executive, Finance Wales.

“It’s important for businesses looking to attract investment to realise that angel investment is about much more than money. In this case, the two xénos angels provided Boulders Ltd with invaluable marketing and financial management expertise.” David Maas, xénos manager.