DONE FOR GOOD
‘Final nail in the coffin,’ warns boss as beloved fitness centre shutters after 50 years – as visitors left devastated
Here's why the centre was forced to suddenly close
A BELOVED fitness centre has shut after 50 years - leaving visitors devastated.
More than 140 people have lost their jobs after Folkestone Sports Centre in Kent suddenly closed earlier this week.
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The centre first opened in 1973 and boasted a 25-metre swimming pool, a gym, a cafe and even ski and toboggan slopes.
It also provided cardiac rehab, stroke rehab, weight management classes and a dementia cafe.
The centre also ran a programme for people who are suffering from mental health illnesses.
Boss Tessa Stickler said the centre had been struggling since the pandemic - but surging bills were the "final nail in the coffin".
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She told the : "I don’t think people realise how much time we have spent battling to try and stay alive.
"It’s the utility bills that have been the killer. All the staff, including myself, are extremely upset.
"We all have mortgages and bills to pay. It’s just a terrible time for all of us."
Local MP Tony Vaughan said "there was no warning at all" - vowing to do "everything I can" to open the centre again.
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Folkestone & Hythe District Council said the centre had faced "enormous financial pressures" including utility costs.
A spokesperson added: "The council has provided long-standing support to the trust.
"In December 2022 councillors agreed to renew support for the centre with a three-year annual grant of £150,000 to deliver sports and leisure activities for the local community.
"Our thoughts are with the centre staff who face uncertainty over their jobs.
"Council staff will be offering welfare advice and signposting to relevant sources of help for those who need support.
"The closure is also hugely disappointing for residents who are losing their local facilities at the beginning of the school summer holiday.
"The council will be working with the administrator and with the landowner, the Radnor Estate, as they decide the next steps to be taken."
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun's business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
Boss Stuart Machin recently said that when it relocated a tired store in Chesterfield to a new big store in a retail park half a mile away, its sales in the area rose by 103 per cent.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
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