IT SEEMS there's no business like snow business for York-based Shepherd Construction Ltd, which has landed a £31 million contract to build this massive leisure and retail complex, including a real snow ski slope.

Shepherd has just started working on the design-and-build project in Castleford on behalf of Xscape Ltd.

By the time it is complete in September next year, the 350,000 sq ft structure will also include an ice wall, a skateboard park, a multi-screen cinema, a ten-pin bowling alley and family entertainment centre.

It will also have a night club, numerous themed bars and restaurants, as well as more than 62,000 sq ft of sports and urban fashion shops.

The "snozone" area will include a 135-metre long ski slope.

The major new attraction will be Xscape's second development in the UK, following the success of its Milton Keynes complex.

The contract crowns more than £250 million worth of Shepherd construction projects for the leisure and retail industries over the last three years.

Right next door to the Xscape venture off Junction 32 on the M62 motorway is the £22.6 million Freeport Designer Outlet Village, which Shepherd completed in 1999.

Updated: 09:58 Tuesday, April 09, 2002