'Much-loved' ski centre to reopen, council says
A "much-loved" ski centre will reopen, a council has announced.
Rushmoor Borough Council said Alpine Snowsports Centre in Aldershot, Hampshire, was expected to reopen later this month "with a new operator at the helm".
Places Leisure, which currently operates and manages Aldershot Pools and Lido on behalf of the council, will be running the centre while the local authority explores long-term options for the facility.
Dave Jolliffe, area manager at Places Leisure, said he hoped the reopening "will create more opportunities for people to become active and enjoy sports that are not always as easily accessible".
The facility was built by the British Army in 1969 and was one of the longest synthetic ski slopes built in England at the time.
The council described it as "hugely popular", having previously attracted more than 25,000 users every year.
It had offered three dry ski slopes for open sessions, and lessons and activities for all ages.
It had also been a training venue for a number of high-level snow sports athletes who started their careers there.
The council said it had been informed "without warning" on 2 April that the company previously managing the centre, Active Nation UK Limited, had ceased trading at the site.
Since then, it has been taking legal advice and assessing options for its future operation.
The council's cabinet member for healthy communities and active lives, Sophie Porter, called the ski centre "an important facility for local people which we don't want to lose".
"It's been integral to the success of winning Special Olympic gold medals and it's the first place many people learned to ski," she said.
Mr Jolliffe added the Places Leisure team was "committed to improving people's lives and the communities in which they live".
"We hope that the reopening of the centre will create more opportunities for people to become active and enjoy sports that are not always as easily accessible," he added.
A date for the reopening will be confirmed after an audit, along with information about future events and bookings.
You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
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Sharp Alpha points to a variety of concepts in this space Sharp Alpha These include lounges, sports, and arcades. They offer a range of value propositions Sharp Alpha The slide includes a word cluster analysis for four categories in this space: training facilities, watering holes, arcade 2.0, and adult playgrounds. A map suggests London is a popular launchpad for concepts in this space Sharp Alpha It shows locations in London as of March. Those businesses tend to expand next in the US, including New York, Boston, and DC Sharp Alpha The slide shows a map of competitive entertainment businesses in New York. Successful models for these venues have 4 key qualities, the deck says Sharp Alpha These traits include high food and beverage revenue, high visit frequency, conducive to events, and high-margin third-party opportunities. Poolhouse cofounder Steve Jolliffe says the startup is his 'most ambitious' yet Sharp Alpha The slide reads: "Poolhouse is the most ambitious and scalable concept my brother and scalable concept my brother and I have created, representing the pinnacle of our lifelong work. Today, more people play Topgolf than on traditional golf courses in the US, and we aim to make an even greater impact on the world of pool." — TopGolf and Puttshack founder, Steve Jolliffe It explains why the game of pool is ripe for reinvention This slide reads: Why Pool? There is an opportunity to reshape how people perceive and play the game of Pool Pool enables a business model that draws on all four ingredients in the Recipe for Success The recipe for success is: High F&B High frequency Conducive to events High-margin 3rd party opportunity Pool is widely recognized, accessible, and associated with social consumption Pool tables are the perfect centerpieces for entertainment, with eating/drinking/socializing integrated into the game (as opposed to venues where consumption and socialization are separate from gameplay Poolhouse games offer the perfect balance of engagement and effort + attention required to enable social experiences and maximize F&B More examples of companies in the space Sharp Alpha A chart breaks down the companies by when they were founded, where they're based, number of locations, the cost per hour, alcohol association, athletic exertion, dwell time, and visit frequency. Some details are redacted. The memo introduces the Poolhouse team Sharp Alpha The memo says Poolhouse has nine senior members with industry experience in addition to the Joliffes. They include Paul Hawkins from Hawk Eye Technologies, CEO Andrew O'Brien, and COO Matt Fleming. Poolhouse's first location will be in London, by the Liverpool Street station Sharp Alpha The deck described risks to Poolhouse's business Sharp Alpha Sharp Alpha redacted these details in the version of the deal memo sent to BI. It describes the margin profile for Poolhouse's locations Sharp Alpha The flagship locations will be in London and New York, the deck says. They will serve as showrooms for franchise opportunities and white-label customers, such as pool halls or hotels. Poolhouse plans to charge per person per hour Sharp Alpha The details on "revenue assumptions" are redacted. Sharp Alpha forecasts Poolhouse's net ROI and site-level EBITDA margins Sharp Alpha The forecasts are based on comparable companies. One graph shows net ROI for companies, including F1 Arcade, Bowlero, and Dave & Buster's. Another shows site-level margins for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization for companies such as Bowlero, TopGolf, and Puttshack. This slide outlines the financial model Sharp Alpha Those metrics include table utilization, food and beverage cost of goods sold, licensing revenue, and capital expenditures per location. It reads: The most important metrics in the financial model are: Table utilization F&B COGS Licensing revenue Capex per location We rebuilt the company's model from scratch, arriving at 7-year estimates summarized on this page. Our diligence process suggested the company may have been a bit aggressive on its utilization projections but too conservative on the EBITDA contributions of the white-label revenue stream. We specifically sensitize Year 7 EBIDTA below on two key dependencies, F&B gross margin and utilization rate, compared to our base case projections. The charts in the slide are redacted. This slide summarizes the memo's key takeaways Sharp Alpha The slide reads: Problem: The game of pool is desperate for reimagination at a time when demand for activity-based food & beverage experiences is surging. Solution: A cathedral to tech-enabled pool where gamified billiards tables serve as centerpieces for high-end competitive socialization paired with refined food & beverage. Traction: Construction is underway at Liverpool Street; multiple U.S. sites are under contract. These locations establish a foundation for a scalable, higher-margin revenue mix through technology licensing and franchising. Market size: The out-of-home entertainment market alone exceeds $100 billion within the $2.6 trillion global entertainment and media sector. The events market, including corporate events and weddings, is valued at over $160 billion, while the US full-service restaurant market surpasses $400 billion. Investment opportunity: We are leading the company's $34M seed round alongside the Daily Mail Group, David Blitzer, and Simon Sports ahead of the London launch in Q1 2026, followed by U.S. openings, international franchising, and white-label tech deployments. Team: Led by Steve and Dave Jolliffe (TopGolf, Puttshack) and Paul Hawkins (Hawk-Eye), supported by nine senior executives from F1 Arcade, Swingers, TopGolf, Flight Club, and Puttshack. The memo closes with the Poolhouse logo Sharp Alpha It also includes a legal disclaimer Sharp Alpha
