KentOnline

bannermobile

News

Sport

Business

What's On

Advertise

Contact

Other KM sites

CORONAVIRUS WATCH KMTV LIVE SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTERS LISTEN TO OUR PODCASTS LISTEN TO KMFM
SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE
Business

The Baypoint Club in Sandwich has been bought by investment company Ramac Holdings of Riverhead, near Sevenoaks.

By: David Jones

Published: 00:02, 21 August 2015

A Kent leisure centre which went into adminstration has been saved after a £750,000 take-over deal.

The Baypoint Club, on the site of the former Pfizer Social Cub in Sandwich, has been purchased by investment and estate management company Ramac Holdings, which also owns the Prince’s Golf Club in Sandwich.

A statement on Baypoint’s website this week says the club will continue trading as normal under the new owners.

The new gym at Baypoint

It continued:”As you may be aware The Baypoint Club Ltd went into administration on June 4, 2015. Since then there has been much speculation regarding the future, which in turn has led to many rumours circulating that the club would be closing in the very near future.

“We are now pleased to announce that The Baypoint Club has been purchased by the Ramac Group, who are well known within the Sandwich area principally as the owner/operator of the famous Prince’s Golf Course.

mpu1

“Through their purchase of the club, the new owners have secured the future of the facility and are happy to provide you with confirmation that there are no plans to close the club and that it is their intention for the club to continue to trade as normal.

“All of the staff are excited to be part of the new Baypoint set-up and look forward to meeting with both old and new members in the very near future.”

The sports hall at Baypoint

Baypoint appointed administrators Garry Lock and Ian Cadlock, partners at Quantama, on June 4.

They said that at the time that during the last four years owner Tony Harrison had made significant investment, but had been unable to make a profit.

Mr Lock said:“Despite a huge amount of investment in the club to update the facilities, membership levels for all aspects of the club have not reached sufficient levels for profitable trading.

The leisure centre had faced financial difficulties for the last few years and Quantuma came in as a result of a threat of winding up - a court order which forces a company into compulsory liquidation.

Figures for 2014 on the Companies House website showed the club was more than £1.7 million in debt and had a net worth of minus £936,850.

Baypoint Club Limited

Baypoint has state-of-the art gym equipment, four football pitches, hockey pitch, an indoor basketball court, squash courts, a 3G football pitch and a children’s nursery.

mpu2

Speaking on Thursday, Mr Lock said the club had been trading normally for the last 10 weeks while a buyer was sought.

“Prior to entering administration, the previous owners had no resources available with which to maximise revenue and they were hamstrung to some extent.

“The new owners will bring considerable financial resources to the operation and obviously will be looking for a return on teir investment.

“I believe new owners have a plan to maximise revenue which involves a link-up with the golf club

“It is a successful outcome and it wil be great for local leisure facilities, especially local football clubs.”

Mr Lock added that the staff remained in place, though several had left because of uncertainties over the club’s future.

Ramac Holdings’ registered office is in Riverhead, near Sevenoaks.

Read more

More by this author

sticky

© KM Group - 2024