THE Ice Factor Group winter sports firm is to pursue further expansion following a management buy-out.

The business includes Ice Factor Kinlochleven, the world’s largest indoor ice climbing centre in Lochaber, and skiing and snowboarding facility Snow Factor Braehead, in Renfrewshire.

Owner Jamie Smith, who founded the group in 2001, says the buy-out will allow the company to capitalise on expected market growth.

A third venture is in the works after the group won its bid to operate a new £30 million snow dome planned for Middlesbrough.

However, mountaineer Smith says further opportunities will now arise as retailers seek to add leisure offerings to their retail destinations and boost footfall.

Smith said: “I passionately believe in the potential for future growth of Ice Factor Group and I’m delighted to have re-acquired 100 per cent of the shares. This will allow my team and me to continue to serve our customers with the best snow and ice experiences in the world.

“The business has delivered consistent growth and profitability, and allied with a stable and high performing management team, I am confident the buy-out represents the best approach to continue the successful growth of the group.

“The buy-out frees up a significant amount of time for the senior management team and resources that can quickly be reinvested back into further improving the quality of the snow sports experience for our customers across both sites.”

The move is backed by £523,000 financing from HSBC and comes one year after the Kinlochleven facility reopened in the wake of a devastating fire which broke out in the sauna area. The incident forced a near-year-long closure at an estimated cost of more than £950,000.

However, the group has grown by almost 800 per cent since 2003, with annual revenues climbing from £484,000 to £4.2m. The venture in Middlesbrough is expected to bring in an additional £5m per annum.

Susan Rowand, HSBC head of business banking in Scotland, said: “We are committed to supporting Scottish businesses like Ice Factor Group to achieve their growth potential and make their ambitions a reality. We are proud to play our part in helping Jamie Smith with a management buy-out and look forward to seeing the business continue to grow.”

Commenting on potential future growth in April, Smith said the company had received “serious offers” from Europe and “further afield”.

He said: “A decade ago, skiing and snowboarding indoors on real snow was possibly perceived by many as a gimmick.

“We are giving tens of thousands of people the opportunity to enjoy the thrill and fun of snow sports and we now look forward to delivering similar success in England.”

However, in a separate interview with The National, he cautioned that Brexit may have a negative impact on the business’s overseas opportunities.

He said: “Our inquiries coming from Europe were much stronger in the pre-Brexit era.

“We were dealing with a companies in Germany, Spain and Luxembourg and a company that was looking at building a new site in Finland. All of those deals went extremely quiet in the post-Brexit period.

“There is no doubt the Brexit thing has had an impact on people thinking about whether they are going to do business or not.”