A 23-year-old entrepreneur who is turning a church into an indoor climbing centre has been named as the winner of Lochaber’s “Dragons’ Glen” competition.
Oliver Millington, of Three Wise Monkeys Climbing, fought off stiff competition from the other three finalists to take the prize at the Fort William-based event inspired by the famous Dragons Den TV show.
He said: “I’m absolutely overwhelmed. I was really pleased to win and the quality of the advice I received was fantastic.
“Presenting my pitch to the ‘Dragons’ was hard and a bit intimidating, but definitely worth it.”
Mr Millington, who is a mountain training instructor, and his girlfriend, Naomi Hatto, who is a sports massage therapist, have been granted planning permission and listed building consent for the project at Fort William’s MacIntosh Memorial Church in Fassifern Road.
And they are hoping the £1million conversion will be completed in time to have the business up and running in time for the start of next year’s summer season.
This involves renovating an extension on the side of the grade three listed property to accommodate a bouldering wall, which is shorter than a climbing wall and is climbed without ropes and harnesses.
The main building will feature a climbing wall, another bouldering wall, a cafe, a sports massage facility and a soft play area.
Mr Millington was presented with the £7,500 cash prize from the West Coast Communities Growth Trust at the finals of the event at the Moorings Hotel in Banavie.
He will also receive £1,000 of web design support from Lamont Design and one year membership of Lochaber Chamber of Commerce.
The entrepreneurship competition formed part of Lochaber Ideas Week and event coordinator, Will Rowland, congratulated Mr Millington on his success in the face of stiff competition.
He said: “There were 11 entries all together, which were whittled down through various stages to the final four.
“It was a very close run competition, with each of the businesses showing tremendous promise giving the ‘Dragons’ a very difficult time in choosing a winner.”
The other finalists were Marina MacLeod, of Fort William’s Marina’s Bridal boutique, the Highland Mountain Culture Association, which runs the annual mountain festival, and Stoked to Coach, a mountain biking guiding and coaching business run by Mark Clark.