Take Cover! Fun Is Heading Your Way
19th April 2006
A new business in Wick is set to have everyone running for cover.
For Paul Steven, whose family owns AMS Motorcycles in Wick, has started up a paintball business on a five-acre site at Bilbster Mains.
It will allow groups of between eight and 20 people to have hours of fun staging fictional battles against one another using guns that fire balls of paint.
After securing financial assistance from Caithness and Sutherland Enterprise, Paul (31), opened Wick-ed Paintball for business this month.
His own enjoyment of the activity led him to conduct some market research about its viability in Caithness. His plan met with a positive response locally and as soon as he announced his proposal he received an immediate booking for a party of 20 followed by a steady flow of inquiries from all over Caithness and even Sutherland.
"Anyone over the age of 16 can take part, or between 12 and 16 if accompanied by an adult," said Paul, "It's very popular for stag or hen parties, or for people who just want to get together to pass an afternoon. We have a lot of different scenarios so the games can be different each time people come."
Paul, a qualified first-aider, works at the facility full-time joined by another part-time employee. Wick-ed Paintball is affiliated to the Paintball Sports Federation and adheres to all of their Health and Safety recommendations. All protective gear is supplied for the entry fee of £17.50 per head.
Ian Thomson, development officer with CASE, said: "Paul has been planning to start a paintball centre for some time and I am confident that it will be well supported by locals and visitors alike. It will extend the range of leisure facilities available in Caithness and I would expect this new business venture to be a success."
Paul can be contacted on 07884185015 or by email at wickedpaintball[AT]aol.com
Related Businesses
Related Articles
A healthy, wealthy and inclusive society starts with a happy employee, writes Rachel Hunter, HIE's director of service delivery There's no doubt that people do a better job when they're happy in their work. They're more committed, more productive, and more innovative.
Search for for school leavers and recent graduates who want to make a difference to the future of the region. The agency is looking for school leavers and recent graduates who want to make a difference to the future of the region.
TechHUB is part of the Northern Innovation Hub (NIH), a £14.2m initiative delivered by HIE under the Deal, which focuses on developing innovation in small and medium sized businesses in the Highland Council area. The funding approval includes costs of refurbishing Fyrish House at Teaninich Industrial Estate in Alness, a building owned by HIE, where the TechHUB will be housed.
The third round of the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) Young Business Capital Investment Grant (YBCIG) is now open to companies. The third round of the Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) Young Business Capital Investment Grant (YBCIG) is now open to companies with up to 250 full-time equivalent employees.
The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Economy, Kate Forbes MSP, has announced the appointment of four new HIE Board members. Dr Keith Nicholson, Ailsa Raeburn and Anna Salgado began their term on 13 June and Simon Cotton will start on 1 April 2023.
The main target of this international initiative under the DIT's High Potential Opportunities (HPO) programme is to attract inward investors from across the globe to help manufacture the main components for future floating offshore wind projects. The focus for this inward investment from global companies of scale will be the Scottish Floating Wind Port Cluster.
Ten representatives of businesses from member organisation Shetland Food and Drink included Shetland Fisherman's Association, Whalsay Made and Shetland Reel Gin. Eight representatives from Food from Argyll and two from Bute Kitchen joined the collaborative visit to Orkney including Mull Cheese, Argyll Coffee and IslayCocoa.
Scotland's space industry is undergoing massive growth, and the Highlands and Islands are at the forefront. Commercial spaceports that will put satellites into low Earth orbit from Sutherland and Shetland have received planning permission and their development is well underway.
All-Energy is back for its 21st anniversary and the first face-to-face event in two years. In conjunction with Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), the region's businesses will exhibit on the HI-energy pavilion, which once again will host the largest regional presence at the show.
HIE and Scottish Enterprise (SE) teamed up to run the project, aimed at helping companies meet the growing requirement to accurately forecast their environmental impacts. The two-month pilot recognised that environmental impact is increasingly becoming a deciding factor in a company's overall attractiveness to investors and customers.
