Riviera Centre is saved by new deal
TORQUAY’S Riviera International Conference Centre has been taken over by Torbay Council to protect it from going into administration.
The council had been due to hand over the lease for the Torquay seafront centre to the private company Parkwood Leisure, which already operates the Torbay Leisure Centre at Clennon Valley in Paignton.
But with the RICC shut due to the coronavirus lockdown, the council has stepped in to take it on to help safeguard its future.
It says the new arrangements will help futureproof the flagship building which opened in 1987 and has hosted major political conferences, entertainment events and even the World Scrabble Championships for more than three decades.
In addition to its conferencing and events venue, it has a swimming pool, leisure centre, health and fitness suite and cafe.
In February the council agreed to fund improvement works at the centre, securing a planned lease deal with Parkwood, but was still agreeing terms when the centre was forced to close to combat the spread of Covid-19.
The current lease was due to run out at the end of March, so the council says a quick decision was needed. The transfer of the lease has now been postponed, with the council continuing to run the centre during the Covid-19 crisis. Many staff have been furloughed.
Torbay Council leader Steve Darling said: “The RICC is one of Torbay’s most important and wellloved community resources and I am pleased we have come to an arrangement to help protect its immediate future. Without this intervention it may well have gone into administration.
“The RICC management company will become wholly owned by the council and we will be able to transfer the lease to Parkwood at an appropriate time in the future.
“We look forward to working with Parkwood Leisure again later on when the RICC is able to reopen, and in the meantime we would like to say thank you and pay tribute to all of the outgoing directors on the board, including current chairman Roger Mann, for all their hard work and selfless commitment over many years.”
Centre managing director Simon Jolly said it had been “frustrating but completely understandable” that the transfer of the business to Parkwood had to be postponed at such an advanced stage.
But, he added: “The swift confirmation that the council would step in to support this vital facility was gratefully received.
“It has been a privilege to have worked with the current board over the last eight years, and to have achieved so much during that time. I now look forward to welcoming and working with the new board”.
Parkwood director Mike Worsnop said the company had been disappointed at the postponement of the transfer, but was excited about taking over once the Covid-19 crisis begins to ease.