Mountain bikers Annie Last and Steve Peat PLUS Cy Turner, Cotic – and Debbie Mathews

It’s rightly famous for the outdoor economy. My home city of Sheffield is also home to an estimated 10,000+ rock climbers, numerous cyclists, runners, walkers, riders, and outdoor enthusiasts.

Local talents forged in Sheffield have participated in sports at international level; and a raft of successful businesses: climbing walls, bike shops, and many more, exist thanks to the strength of Sheffield as a place to participate in outdoor activities.

So I was intrigued to learn about a new mountain bike trail which opened this week, all thanks to funding from local riders and local businesses. Lady Cannings Plantation – on the outskirts of Sheffield, near Ringinglow – is the location for the new 1.4km trail.

It began when volunteers from advocacy group Ride Sheffield, which works collaboratively with riders, other outdoor enthusiasts, and local Councils, launched a crowdfunding campaign to help make the trail happen.

And the donations immediately started flooding in. Next, local businesses including Cotic Bikes and Norton Mayfield Architects made significant financial contributions. Then staff at GO Outdoors, who’d personally contributed to the crowdfund, talked to management there about supporting the trail and the company decided to commit to a large financial contribution to enable all three phases of the trail happen.

Phase 1 of the new trail opened on Tuesday and I went along and interviewed professional mountain bikers Annie Last and Steve Peat after they’d ridden it.

I also spoke with Mike Sanderson and Barry Dunn of GO Outdoors; Chris Heeley and Jon Dallow of Sheffield City Council; local rider Pat Horscroft; Joe Bowman of Steel City Media; and Cy Turner of Cotic Bikes.

Also in this episode:  Andrew Throssell, partner at Hebblethwaites Chartered Accountants on how changes to dividend payments, corporation tax and annual investment allowance announced in the budget  will affect small businesses. PLUS  Debbie Matthews, chief executive of Manor and Castle Development Trust. Timings:

• 0 – 4:40: introductions
• 4:40 – 13:00: Debbie Matthews
• 13:00 – 20:37: Andrew Throssell
• 20:37 – 22:28: a forthcoming event for businesses wanting to trade with China
• 22:28 – 43:47: mountain biking segment (Mike Sanderson, Barry Dunn, Chris Heeley, Jon Dallow, Annie Last, Pat Horscroft, Joe Bowman, Cy Turner, Steve Peat)
• 43:47 – 46:15: wrap up

This is episode #75 of Business Live, first broadcast on Friday 17 July 2015.