ROKT is climbing onto tourism award shortlist
A major climbing attraction got an early birthday present after making the shortlist for a major tourism award. Brighouse- based ROKT Climbing Gym has been named a finalist in the small visitor category in the Welcome to Yorkshire White Rose Awards.
The awards recognise a wide range of achievement in tourism provision and reward the very best of the industry throughout Yorkshire.
The Millroyd Street centre’s joint-owners Leigh Topping and Euan Noble took over the derelict mill in 2011 and within three months created a business plan, transformed the building and opened the doors.
Euan Noble, ROKT’s commercial director, said: “We’re all absolutely buzzing. Just getting this far this early in the life of the business is brilliant for the staff who work hard 24/7 and for the members and visitors.
“We created ROKT to be everything that climbing should be about - fun, problem-based activities, with a desire to get stronger, climb higher and above all to attract everyone regardless of background or ability.”
ROKT attracted 11,000 members in its first year of business and now has more than 30,000 members.
The company welcomes around 47,000 visitors a year and continuing to grow.
Mr Noble added: “This reinforces our position now as a leading small visitor attraction and much more than just a climbing centre.
“We’ve now have such a wide mix of visitors, from British and European gold medal climbers to families and people aged from two to 95.
“And we have more exciting expansion plans to announce soon.”
ROKT has also taken over the onsite pub and completely refurbished it.
The Millers Bar recently made it into the top 30 of Yorkshire’s favourite pubs, within six months of opening, as voted for by the public.
It forms part of the wider development master plan for ROKT Climbing Gym.
Visit www.rokt.co.uk for details on the activites at the centre. A new range of handmade luxury scented candles has been launched by an independent florists.
Brighouse’s Simply Flowers, has developed the long-lasting candles after being unable to source any.
The candles come in a range of 19 different scents – from black cherry to vanilla sugar – and in a range of designs.
These include wedding favour candles which have been developed in response to demand from some of the florists’ customers.
Simply Flowers owner Lesley Adams, said: “The candles are handmade by our team who are able to use their floristry expertise – blending the right flowers together to create the perfect appearance and scent.
“We decided to create our own because we wanted to expand the range of gifts we sold at Simply Flowers.
For more information visit www.candlesbysimplyflowers.co.uk