A regional publisher is funding a Christmas ice rink with the backing of two of its daily titles and a local airport.
Archant is setting up the season attraction in Norwich, with the backing of city-based dailies the Eastern Daily Press and Norwich Evening News and Norwich International Airport.
The rink will be placed against the backdrop of Norwich Castle, pictured below, and will be complemented by a number of other nearby attractions.
It will be open every day, except Christmas Day, from Sunday 6 December until Saturday 2 January.
Archant has confirmed it is solely funding the initiative with the airport involved purely as a publicity sponsor.
The company declined to give any further financial details of the project, including whether it would be receiving the revenues from ticket sales.
Archant’s chief commercial officer Craig Nayman said: “We are delighted to announce the launch of the Norwich Ice Rink in partnership with the EDP and NEN and Norwich International Airport. It’s further evidence of how we act as a catalyst between connecting a local brand to local people.”
Nigel Pickover, editor-in-chief of the EDP and Evening News, told readers: “This is the first time our newspapers have launched our very own ice rink and what better way to get into the festive spirit than to glide around in the shadow of the castle. Once tickets go on sale, they are sure to sell out fast.”
The rink will have a capacity of 70 people for hourly sessions, and will also feature a nearby giant snowman, bouncy castle and Father Christmas.
Richard Pace, the airport’s general manager, said: “Norwich International Airport is delighted to be able to support the EDP and the Norwich Evening News’ ice rink in the Castle Mall gardens.
“It’s a great opportunity for a great day out in Norwich and we would urge people to get their tickets booked as soon as they can.”
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I am amazed there are funds to pay for this?
wouldnt they have been better off investing in the daily and weekly papers in an effort to improve them and to try and attract some of the thousands of local people no longer buying copies or businesses no longer advertising?,or if there is spare cash lying around how about a pay rise for the staff?
This is just another sign that these papers are being left to fade away while funds are diverted elsewhere other than inward investment on the (once ) core newspaper products.
Presumably they`re trying to recoup some of the huge £657,000 loss they made on Mustard TV via ticket sales
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Archant has been skating on thin ice for years. Wait for the cracks to appear.
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Talk about fiddling while Rome burns, incredible that the editor is so brazen about spending this amount of money on a folly when so much else needs attention within the business itself.
All the paper cover prices have also just gone up again under the radar but we are not supposed to mention it, presumably to try to recover recent losses although this is likely to turn even more people away.
Head in the sand time and no one mention mustard tv.
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For a change, words absolutely fail me.
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Puiblicity sponsor? Is this the type of sponsorship that doesn’t cost a bean? Putting in stories that would have been put in anyway and masquerading as a real sponsor?
More importantly, are they sponsoring the staff Christmas party? Or are times too hard for that?
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@provincial you’ve got it
Staff and motivation are way down on the list of important things these days.
The fact that they editor drools about ‘ our very own ice rink’ whilst he lays low on the subject of record low copy sales hoping no one will notice simply beggars belief.
Jeff Henry please take note of where your money’s being spent and prepare to explain why at the annual shareholders meeting.
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What an absolute waste of money this is coming the week after Archant were found to have lost £657,000 on the Mustsrd tv fiasco.
How Jeff Henry,Simon Bax and the others explain this latest non business spend to the shareholders ,when investment on products and reducing costs is more pressing will be interesting to see.
Out of touch,out of control and clearly unaccountable to anyone
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Don’t panic! All we need is 65,700 ice skaters all paying a tenner a go and we will have recovered the loss so far on Mustard tv, then all we’ve got to pay for is however much this latest get rich quick scheme and bingo! Happy days
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I wonder just who comes up with these ridiculous smash and grab schemes?
Certainly no one with half a business mind or anyone remotely concerned with the finances or future of Archant that’s for sure .
Some are rallying round the flag at the thought of a free go on the ice but majority are speechless at this latest bad decision.
Ultimately Jeff Henry is responsible so he must have given this the green light one would assume?
No wonder they don’t want to talk numbers and how much this shambles will cost, conservstive estimates suggest it will be at least high five figures nudging £100k and this on top of falling copy numbers and give away advertising sales rates that still aren’t achieving targets and expectations.
Was this scheme agreed before the extent of the crippling losses from mustsrd tv were known?
It seems as if the board are spending like there’s no tomorrow which at this rate there won’t be.
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It’s hard to disagree with most of the comments here regarding costs and losses, but who here hasn’t indulged in a bit of frivolous spending, especially at Christmas? It’s fun and if it successfully promotes the papers, so much the better.
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Frivolous spending is all very well if all the other bases are covered but when the company has lost a fortune on its embarrassing TvChannel already ,its papers are haemorrhaging readers in their thousands and there’s no forward plans for investment in the business and improving the quality of the newspapers then an outlay such as this just adds fuel to the fire for those who work there when the money could be better spent elsewhere
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One week it’s announced that Mustard tv has lost over half a million pounds in its first year and is still a laughing stock and the next they’re crowing about throwing what money remains on an ice skating rink?
You couldn’t make it up could you?
Who’s running things there these days? David Brent or Alan Partridge?
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I’m not going to this unless there are smoking elves and bedraggled reindeer. Are there?
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I’m sure there will be @biter and that’s just the Mustard tv lot!
The `sweary fairy` will probably put in an appearance too
so many archant folk all looking forward to a free go on the ice and as ‘G says only 65,700 paying skaters at £10 a pop and the losses from MTV are covered!
hoorah!
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Yay! Good old Archant. Pay rises for staff have been on hold for five years because apparently there’s ‘no money’, and editorial staff have been slashed with those remaining expected to do more and more despite dwindling numbers – but there’s always plenty of spare cash to throw at ice rinks, endless free sandwiches and jollies for senior management and playing at running a TV channel no one wanted. No wonder staff morale at Archant is at an all-time low. The management is so out of touch, they’re on a different planet.
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Great to read a week after a company-wide diktat to pass on financial failings to loyal newspaper readers with a 10 pence price rise. Justification: ‘Our costs are going up……!’
Impeccable timing – and typical ‘One Archant’ double standards.
It’s almost something you’d expect to see in an Alan Partridge episode.
What next Archant? Monkey tennis?
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Shhhh, it was hoped the price rise wouldn’t be noticed!
This was slipped in under the radar as the clowns who advise on such matters felt this would recover some of the losses from free falling newspaper sales, worst ever ad revenues and the station that no one wants or watches Mustard tv and it’s £600,000 loss
but as has been said previously all this will do will encourage those few loyal readers left to walk away.
It’s the cardinal sin in any business to pass a loss onto the customer but something Archant just don’t get, it’s like going for a meal, half the diners running out without paying and the owners putting the price of their meal on those that are left.
oh for the days of managers and leaders who knew what they were doing and could run a business as opposed to ruin a business.
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@JournoSW has summed it up well
Jeff Henry , Simon Bax the head of HR and whoever is the top editorial man in the group these days ( it’s ever changing and we can’t work out who’s in charge of who, sorry ) please take note if you’re the slightest bit interested in what the staff, not the yes men, think or maybe what the bean counters and middle managers are afraid to tell you.
Staff morale IS at rock bottom but there’s still plenty of jollies for the many managers in the company,from silly waistcoats and self importance at awards ‘do’s, grinning like buffoons and freeloading at the county shows and the same old faces in the company football boxes and with plenty of money to throw around on this rubbish but none on salaries , just shows where their priorities lie doesn’t it.
Wholesale shake ups and a severe pruning of the hangers on who get paid to do nothing useful is needed if they want to release some money and cut costs.
Managers out of touch and only interested in their own well being is just the tip of the ice berg , or ‘rink’ in this case.
Oh and @pressman I don’t think anyone’s actually running things these days,those in charge all look like rabbits caught in the headlights and act like headless chickens just aiming to get through another day unchallenged.
Really hard to take the company’s pleas of poverty seriously when you look at how much money is wasted
fiddling while Rome burns is an apt description.
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Which senior exec is going to be first to get his skates on? Now this I would like to see
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Alan Partridge Quote of the week
“what better way to get into the festive spirit than to glide around in the shadow of the castle”
And that folks, just about sums it all up
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Perhaps if they spent more time,effort and money on improving the abysmal EDP, NEN and weeklies that fewer people than ever are buying and less on playing at being a tv station or funding skating rinks they’d have happier staff, more readers, a bit of credibility within the business sector in Norfolk and a future.
An expenditure of this size must have been signed off at the highest level in which case the board and chief bean counter must accept responsibility for any loss this ridiculous idea incurs.
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