The watersports and cycle hire centre at Carsington Water, is one of Derbyshire’s leading activity providers for locals and visitors to the area.
Activities on offer include sailing, paddle boarding, canoeing, rowing, wind surfing, bike and ebikes hire and fly fishing. Qualified instructors are available for all water sports, from beginner to advanced level.
In addition courses are run for organisations such as the Police, the Fire & Rescue Service, the Environment Agency and Severn Trent Water Authority, all of whom need qualified staff.
Carsington Sports and Leisure Ltd run the Centre for Severn Trent Water. The company is owned by a group of local residents and employees who have run the business since the completion of the Reservoir in 1992. With the tough economic climate following the Covid pandemic, the business has struggled with soaring energy costs. The Centre is all electric, with need to keep the building warm and safe for customers and staff, plus the energy demand from hot showers, vital for customers coming off the water.
With funding and support from Derbyshire County Council’s Green Entrepreneurs Programme and Derbyshire Dale’s District Council’s Business
Advice Service, solar panels are to be installed, reducing carbon emissions by 3,200 CO2e, a halving of the electricity consumption.
Dave Allison (Carsington Sports and Leisure) says:
With help and advice from business adviser Christina Trindade of Derbyshire Dales District Council, we have been able to put together a funding scheme to install solar panels, which will help us to halve the Centre’s energy bills, reducing our carbon footprint by 3,200 Carbon Dioxide Emissions p.a. Without the support we received from Christina, we would have struggled to bring the scheme to fruition.
Christina Trindade (DDDC Business Advisor) says:
Working with Dave Allison of the Carsington Water Sports Centre has been a pleasure. Reducing overheads and looking to the long-term sustainability of the centre is important for the business. Rising electric costs and a good roof space, often provided by commercial properties, make a solar panel system a sensible investment.
The business survival through difficult times is a testimony to its own success. Carsington Water continues to be an absolute gem of the Peak District for anyone who enjoys time on, or around the water or is looking to try something new in one of the most stunning leisure locations in the Derbyshire Dales.
If you think your business could benefit from our Business Advice service contact Christina Trindade at
This grant scheme is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).
