25 Million investment
28-11-07
Flintshire businessman invests £25m in luxury leisure and country pursuits development.
A self-made Flintshire businessman is investing £25m to turn Northop Country Park into one of the UKs leading leisure and country pursuits developments.
Darren Norman, 42, today unveiled plans to develop a 60-bedroom four-star hotel, conferencing/function suite for 200 delegates, state-of-the-art fitness centre with indoor/outdoor pool; relaxation and aerobics rooms plus a golfing centre of excellence, all within the existing championship golf course set within the 247-acre country park.
The development will also include a beauty and holistic therapy suite, 4 km of running track and outdoor cardio areas, five houses as infill among 43 existing homes on the park. The existing clubhouse will be extended and remodelled for the hotel and conference suites. The first task will be to build a replacement clubhouse near the tenth tee.
Flintshires biggest investment in leisure, the scheme also includes a 60-acre equestrian centre in Northop and a 50-acre clay target shooting complex on the Llandegla Moor, Denbighshire. Ultimately it will create 150 jobs.
Born and brought up in Holywell and now a resident of Northop, Mr Norman has already invested £10.5m in the scheme.
Mr Norman moved into steel wire products in the mid 90s, founding locally-based company AWP Ltd. The business became the market leader, specialising in bailing wire and high tensile cut wire pellets, exporting throughout Europe. Mr Norman sold a majority stake in 2005.
He bought Northop Country Park in October 2006.
The project is the culmination of a long-term ambition by Mr Norman. As a teenager, he witnessed the hardships brought on local families by the closure of Courtaulds and Shotton Steel works and experienced his own family hardship when his parents had to relocate to Germany in search of work.
Planning permission granted previously for a hotel, leisure, conference and 30,000 sq ft of office space at Northop Country Park is still valid, and Mr
Norman has applied to Flintshire County Council to alter the position of the hotel and leisure facilities within the application.
Councillors are expected to consider it in early 2008.
Mr Norman said: Its taken two years of planning and acquisition to get where we are today and a strong and realistic financial model is in place to complete the project by 2010.
Flintshires economy is still dependant on manufacturing. Tourism can contribute considerably to the local economy. My intention is to create, good sustainable jobs for local people while encouraging a dramatic awareness of Flintshire and what our county has to offer in terms of tourism, location and skills.
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