The brains behind an indoor bouldering wall business in Ellesmere Port have launched a crowd-funding campaign to secure the final investment needed.

Change of use planning permission was recently granted to Boulder Hut which plans to open what the company is calling a ‘world class, indoor bouldering wall’ at Olympic Park in Poole Hall Road.

Bouldering is a shorter, sharper variation of rock climbing, which is done without ropes, over lower heights and safety matting.

What the outside of Boulder Hut will look like.

Founders Samantha Oxford and Antony White have joined the likes of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage and the Eden Project in turning to Crowdcube to generate the remaining funds needed to make the project a reality.

Samantha said: “Antony and I have been working on Boulder Hut since 2012, but the past year has been incredibly exciting. We have found a great building, have change of use planning approval, advanced assurance of SEIS and EIS, have our website up and running – www.boulderhut.com – have secured a wall builder and also have plans in place for a large proportion of the funds needed.

Bouldering in action at the proposed Boulder Hut facility in Ellesmere Port.

“We’re negotiating the building’s lease and the last part of the jigsaw is to secure the remaining funds on Crowdcube. Crowdcube is the world’s first and leading investment crowdfunding platform and investing on there is really simple."

Boulder Hut says investments can start from as little as £10.

“We’ve already reached 29% of our target and are now asking the local community to get involved and become our owners,” added Samantha.

The shop and cafe at the proposed Boulder Hut facility in Ellesmere Port.

Boulder Hut hopes the Ellesmere Port centre will be the first in a series of indoor climbing gyms.

The wall, which will be among the largest in the UK, will house more than 250 different climbing routes and have a separate ‘Boulder Zoo’ for kids and a special ‘Boulder Play’ area for babies and toddlers, as well as offering coaching, kids’ clubs and parties. There will also be a café serving locally-sourced, quality produce and a shop ‘to get kitted out in’.

Boulder Hut in Ellesmere Port will be among the largest in the UK with more than 250 different climbing routes and a separate ‘Boulder Zoo’ for kids plus a special ‘Boulder Play’ area for babies and toddlers.

The sport of bouldering has been growing steadily since 2005 and over the past few years has been one in only four sports to show an increase in participation, which is set to rise as it has already gained a spot in the 2020 Olympics.

Anyone interested in investing can visit the Crowdcube website.