ANTUR 'STINIOG CASE STUDY
Antur Stiniog is a North Wales social enterprise, which provides experience, training
and employment in the outdoor activities sector. It currently runs three centres within
a 10 mile radius in the Bro Ffestiniog area, incorporating downhill mountain bike
trails, kayaking, canoeing, bike hire, a café and conference facilities.
Ceri Cunnington is Antur Stiniog’s general manager: "We are blessed with the natural
landscape of fantastic rivers, mountains and beautiful scenery around us. The views
from the trails are spectacular and riders come from far and wide to experience the
challenging mountain biking experience we have to offer."
To Ceri, it was a no-brainer to make use of the breathtaking landscape to provide
local outdoor activities and attract visitors to Blaenau Ffestiniog, a lesser known part
of Snowdonia National Park. In 2007, he gathered together some like-minded souls
with a passion for outdoor pursuits to see how the plentiful local resources and the
spectacular natural landscape could be used to benefit the local community.
In 2009 Antur 'Stiniog secured funding to create its four downhill mountain bike trails.
In early 2010 Wales Co-operative Centre provided HR advice as Antur 'Stiniog began
to take on employees with a view to training them in a range of outdoor skills. Since
then, the company has grown to employ 19 people. It is managed by a board of ten
volunteer directors from varying different professions who feed into its organisational
development. It currently employs 19 people.
Inside Antur 'Stiniog is a culture of bringing added-value to the local community and it
has succeeded in becoming a centre for productivity, encouraging local people to
train in new skills that they may not have thought of pursuing. It currently trains its
staff to offer courses and activities in areas such as bike maintenance, bush craft,
mountain leading, guided walking and kayaking. The courses plough income into
Antur 'Stiniog for trail maintenance and development of new areas of activity and
provide sustainable local employment opportunities. The availability of these
courses provides local young people with an excellent outlet to develop an energy
and passion for outdoor activities.
In 2013, Antur 'Stiniog opened a new visitor centre, café and conference centre
having secured funding from Visit Wales' sustainable tourism project. The visitor
centre provides both essential income and new opportunities for employees to learn
skills in facilities management. Antur 'Stiniog has also opened Y Siop — a hub for
tourist and historical information that attracts people to Bro Ffestiniog, potentially
increasing business for other local traders in the area. Y Siop sells mountain biking
accessories, equipment and clothing. Antur 'Stiniog works with a nearby college
offer work experience at Y Siop so that local young people can learn skills in retail,
marketing and brand expertise.
Mountain bikers from around the UK come to Antur 'Stiniog to experience one of its
red, blue or black runs. A shuttle mini-bus uplift service complete with biketransporting trailer brings riders with a day-pass from the main visitor centre up to the
start of the trails where they can go round as many times as they wish during the
day. Mountain bike aficionados can watch the downhill trails in action via You Tube
(just search Antur 'Stiniog) where there is also a film of 2010 downhill champion Gee
Atherton being 'hunted' down one of the trails by a peregrine falcon.
Wales Co-operative Centre has been working with Antur 'Stiniog since its early days.
Ceri Cunnington said:
"Wales Co-operative Centre's support has been invaluable. It has helped us with
business planning, HR, setting up our training courses and funding applications. We
just would not have got this far without Wales Co-operative Centre's input and highlevel consultancy."
Development officer Mike Williams at Wales Co-operative Centre said:
"We've been working with Antur 'Stiniog for some years and have seen the
organisation develop from a vision to a fully-functioning, community-focused
enterprise. We have helped develop and review the business plan and have given
advice on HR matters including providing watertight policies. Antur 'Stiniog has
always had a dynamic can-do approach and it has recently received the acclaim it
deserves from the cycling industry as it hosted the first stage of the British downhill
mountain biking championships. There was a warm festival feeling in the town
during the event and Antur 'Stiniog is set to be the venue for next year's
championships as well."
For the future, Antur 'Stiniog has set itself the challenge to open a velorail, which is a
pedal-powered open train, along a disused railway line between Blaenau Ffestiniog
and Trawsfynydd. The Blaenau Ffestiniog to Llan Ffestiniog branch will be the first
stage of this, opening in September 2015.
For further information on activities and latest developments at Antur 'Stiniog go to
www.anturstiniog.com and search Antur 'Stiniog on You Tube to see the trails in
action.