The Climbing Hangar

We are excited to announce that Verlinvest has acquired a majority stake in The Climbing Hangar, the UK’s leading bouldering gym operator! This partnership, alongside Founder Ged MacDomhnaill and management, will accelerate growth through new site openings across the UK and acquiring high-quality third-party sites. With nine sites and over 20,000 members, The Climbing Hangar is focused the penetration of the sport, building on current momentum with the UK having won Gold at the Paris Olympics, and welcoming a new generation of climbing enthusiasts. At Verlinvest, we have a proven track record of successfully developing consumer brands and multi-site businesses on a global scale, including K1 Speed, Tony's Chocolonely, Oatly, Tom&Co, Faceland Clinic, BLUDENTAL, Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters and Insomnia Cookies. Our investment in The Climbing Hangar demonstrates our commitment to nurturing niche, high-growth sports with multiple revenue streams beyond traditional multi-site leisure models. Congratulations to Ged MacDomhnaill, Ben Black, Olivia Gautier, Julia Pedret Sagnier and the teams at The Climbing Hangar and Verlinvest! We look forward to scaling the business and supporting its mission to inspire and grow the climbing community. Read the full article using the link below: https://lnkd.in/e77rkHKE #Bouldering #Climbing #UK #Lifestyle #Investment #Consumer #Experience

On our way to the North West Final of Entrepreneur of the Year. What a remarkable honour even to be a finalist and to be part of such an exciting peer group and programme. It’s inspiration central. If the previous meets are anything to go by, my brain will be ablaze with ideas in about 3hrs. So sorry to the Hangar team in advance for next weeks meetings…. And a suit. Crazy scenes here. I even used an “iron” which is some mad clothes smoothing technology. The future is here already right? The Climbing Hangar #EOYUK #ArtOfEntrepreneurship #BetterWorkingWorld

I was incredibly fortunate to attend The North Face Climb Festival in Canary Wharf this past weekend, on behalf of The Climbing Hangar . The event was easily one of the biggest and craziest UK climbing events of all time, and probably just the sort of thing that the sport needs to capture the imagination of the mainstream public. An astonishing 16m climbing wall was built above the Thames and many of the best climbers from around the world went head to head in a deep water solo event unlike any other. In climbing side by side, the competition was not only impressive to watch but thrilling to follow. There was a really clear narrative for non-climbers to follow and once competitors reached the top of the wall, there was only really one way down… and that was right into the water below. It was crazy. Another unique aspect of the event is how the field of competitors featured World Cup winners and Olympians alongside recreational climbers who signed up to test themselves against the tallest climbing wall in the capital. There aren’t many sports in which this would be possible. A host of familiar faces from The Hangar community took part and young pro climber / Hangar ambassador Louise Flockhart fended off world class opposition to come third in the women’s event. Dramatically, she was less than 1 second away from finishing second. Again, the competition format of having climbers ascend the wall side by side delivered some incredible moments for spectators. It will be interesting to see how event organisers innovate in the aftermath of the summer Olympics to draw attention to the sport. I aim to play a part in continuing to draw attention to the sport and especially The Hangar gyms. In the meantime, Instagrammers can check out some highlights via this link: https://lnkd.in/ePteziAB