Adapt & Diversify grant is a trump card for Ace Karting

"We knew the site needed to go to the next level and the grant has enabled that to happen so we are really grateful to the county council."

A go-karting business is refreshed, refurbished and ready to 'go to the next level' after accessing support from a Warwickshire County Council business support programme.

Like many SMEs in the leisure sector, Ace Karting took a big hit from having to close its doors for a sustained period due to Covid. The indoor track, based in Hartshill, Nuneaton, was effectively without income for ten months.

But the family-run firm showed the resilience to ride out the pressure and is now offering customers greater comfort and better facilities than ever thanks to funding from the county council's Adapt & Diversify grant scheme.

The Adapt & Diversify fund was launched last February to identify businesses most in need of support and get that support out to them as swiftly as possible. It awarded more than £1million, supporting 120 businesses, before closing last month.

Among those is Ace Karting whose director Ben Charlesworth explains:

"The track was created from old farm buildings about 15 years ago. We made a smart job of it but, over time, it had started to look tired. It didn't have a cafe area or central heating and needed a refresh.

"The Adapt & Diversify grant mean that we could upgrade the whole environment. We have made it more open-plan with somewhere for people to have a coffee, so parents are more inclined to stay around longer. It is a lot more hospitable now and redoing it has really kept us up with the times."

The business, which employs three full-time and two part-time staff, is now much better-equipped for the future, both short term and beyond.

"We were thinking about having this work done and knew it needed doing, but then were without income for about ten months so that made it tough," said Ben. "We knew the site needed to go to the next level and the grant has enabled that to happen so we are really grateful to the county council."

Warwickshire County Council Portfolio Holder for Economy & Place, Cllr Kam Kaur, said: "The Adapt & Diversify fund has allocated more than £1million to businesses in less than a year to support them as they deal with the impact of the pandemic.

"I am delighted that the grant has been so beneficial to Ace Karting which is a great example of the many small Warwickshire business which have refused to buckle under the pressures of the pandemic."