Work is to start next week on a £31m indoor snow village next to the Trafford Centre, Manchester.
.Chill Factor will be home to the UK’s longest and widest real snow indoor ski slope and will include a toboggan run and children’s snowplay zone.
The 250,000 sq ft (23,225 sq m) north west venue will also include a 10,000 sq ft (929 sq m) mountain and snow sports shop and a skate park as well as bars and restaurants.
Debt funding for the scheme comes from Royal Bank of Scotland and Allied Irish Banks, with equity funding from Bridges Community Ventures and Pemberstone Group – a privately owned property and private equity investment group.
Trafford Centre owner Peel Holdings owns the land and was the joint planning applicant for the scheme, which was given consent in April 2005. It is due to finish in October next year.
The team behind Chill Factor includes managing director David Sterland, who commissioned the Milton Keynes Xscape development, and chairman Peter Moore OBE, the former managing director of Center Parcs.