INDOOR climbing is becoming an increasingly popular past-time - for people of all ages and abilities.

York has just welcomed its newest centre - Freeklime at Clifton Moor.

It's the second indoor climbing centre for owner Chris Whitehead who opened his first Freeklime in Huddersfield just before the pandemic struck.

Safe to say, it's been a tough few years for the young entrepreneur - but he's safely navigated his way through the challenges (not unlike customers at his climbing centre).

So congratulations to Chris - our Trader of the Week.

If you are doing something new or different in your York business, get in touch, and we can share your story with readers. Contact us via the Send Now link at the end of the article or via this link: www.thepress.co.uk/trader

Time to find out more about Chris and Freeklime...

Where are you based?

Kettlestring Lane, York, YO30 4XF

How long has the business been going?

Freeklime York opened in March 2023 and is the city's newest indoor climbing centre. Freeklime York is managing director Chris's second centre, having opened his first climbing gym in Huddersfield in 2019.

What does it offer?

Freeklime boasts more than 200 climbing routes within 9,657 square feet of space and anyone regardless of their ability and age can get involved. A nurturing and safe environment, Freeklime offers something for everyone to enjoy, including instructor-led sessions, climbing sessions for children and adults, space for corporate events, a dog-friendly light refreshment area and, more recently, the team have introduced weekly QueerSocials for the LGBTQIA+ community.

Enjoying a climb at York's new indoor bouldering centre, Freeklime

Why is this business is special?

Freeklime is special in so many ways, not only does it offer greater accessibility to physical activity, but it also provides a sense of community and belonging which prevents social exclusion. Alongside offering social events for the LGBTQIA+ community, Freeklime is also looking to introduce over the next year climbing social events for neurodivergent people, those over the age of 50 as well as sessions designed to improve people's mental health. As a values-driven small business, creating an environment where everyone can be authentically themselves is crucial. We use this approach at our Huddersfield-based climbing centre and are replicating it also here in York. Kindness is infectious and by ensuring that every employee and visitor feels a strong sense of belonging at Freeklime, this creates a meaningful connection where everyone can reach their potential through the art of climbing.

Trader of the week - Chris Whitehead

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How has it adapted during the Covid-19 crisis?

We opened our first Freeklime site in October 2019 in Huddersfield with the York site having launched in March 2023. With the first site having only been open five months before Covid-19 hit, it was absolutely devastating for us as our hard work had been lost overnight. The silver lining was many of our visitors who had monthly membership with us kept their subscription active throughout this period it was a huge help and gave us all a huge amount of personal reassurance. We weathered the storm and once we were allowed to reopen, we were able to reach profitability which enabled us to go forward and open up our second site in York.

What is your favourite story about the business?

It has been immensely rewarding to see so many talented young people progress from nervous first timers to proficient boulderers, some entering regional and national climbing competitions. It's been great to see the business and our team thrive from a fledgling start up to a multi-site operator with ambitions to introduce more people to the amazing world of climbing by opening additional sites throughout the UK. Our mission is to become the UK's number one brand for new climbers and we're well on the way to doing that.

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