Saved by the boss! Merry Hill's Quest lives after sale

The children's centre, which includes an indoor high rope course and mini golf, appeared to be facing a bleak future when it was announced before Christmas that it was due to close following heavy losses.

But it has now been confirmed that Quest will continue to operate from Merry Hill after being bought by Mark Knox, a manager at the site.

Quest has struggled to attract the numbers that initially came through the doors when it opened in 2012, creating 30 jobs, but Mr Knox has promised an exciting future for the centre following the completion of the rescue deal.

Councillors, business leaders and shoppers all welcomed the news today.

Brierley Hill councillor Zafar Islam said it was crucial that a prominent feature of the shopping centre was not allowed to disappear.

He said: "Hopefully jobs have been saved which is a good thing given what we are going through at the moment.

"It ensures Merry Hill has a fuller and greater occupancy and is more welcoming rather than people seeing boarded-up shops.

The zone, which includes an indoor high rope course, mini golf and Nerf blaster range, opened in a blaze of glory in November 2012 by Paragon Entertainment.

But Paragon announced in November last year that it planned to shut the loss-making attraction within six months.

Paragon's interim chief executive Mark Pyrah has now confirmed that Quest, which had an asset value of £121,000, had been sold to Mr Knox, a member of the Paragon management team and manager of Quest.

"He has some exciting plans for the future of Quest," said Mr Pyrah.

In its results for 2014, announced yesterday Paragon revealed the Quest operation, in which it had invested £1.3 million, sustained a loss of £629,000 for last year compared to £905,000 in 2013.

Paragon's total revenue fell from £9.5 million in 2013 to £7.7m as it made a loss before tax of £100,000 from an £800,000 profit a year before.

Mr Pyrah said while results for 2014 were in line with market expectations for profitability they were lower than desired and had prompted the decision to sell the Quest attraction. Mr Pyrah said: "We are re-focussing the business on our core design and build business – it is what we are good at."

Mr Knox, who is Paragon's head of business development and its licensing department, confirmed the sale had gone through, but was not willing to disclose the price that had been paid, other than that it was a six-figure sum. The attraction, which also included a cafe area, created 30 jobs when it first opened.

"These centres are great for providing entertainment and physical activity required for our young people so they can remain healthy and develop social skills from meeting people from different parts of the borough and outside the borough.

"It's good for the Dudley borough as far as families are concerned."

Ninder Johal, president of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce, said the deal was a boost for the shopping centre.

He said: "It is important that young people are able to play and that families have somewhere in the Black Country where they can take their kids.

"It is also fantastic that people will keep their jobs. It's great news for Dudley and the Black Country."

Parents taking their children to Quest yesterday said they were pleased the centre was going to stay.

Gemma Wild, of Clifton Street, Old Hill, regularly takes 15-month-old son Blake.

The 32-year-old said: "We have been here quite a few times. There are not many places around here like this so it's nice to have somewhere to go.

"When I heard it was going to close I did think 'where are we going to go now?' so I'm pleased it is going to stay open.

Ruth Piatrowicz, aged 22, from Wombourne, said two-year-old daughter Rose enjoys having fun at Quest.

"She loves it," she said. "It is good that it is going to stay open, it would have been a bad shame if it closed.

"They have built it up and it looks good."

Shane Birch-Bastock, acting chairman of the Brierley Hill Traders Association

"It's always great when a business is saved and new people always bring fresh ideas.

"In business you need to keep evolving. There was a report out recently that to save the high street and shopping centres businesses need to become more internet based and offer more leisure.

"In Quest they have leisure where they can get people in and attract them to other shops.

"Things are slowly getting better and more and more people are seeing opportunities and taking a risk, and you have to take a risk in business sometimes, you can't just stand still.

"You have to do things to attract people and there is a real opportunity there at Quest."

The creation of the entertainment zone saw the atrium at one of the centre's main entrances converted into an exciting indoor 14-metre high wire area.

Initially Paragon operated an outdoor ice rink as well.

The first two months saw 15,000 people using Quest, with the ice rink in particular proving to be a hit with the attraction's young visitors.

But despite many new attractions for children from under-two upwards being added since including a soft play area in the former Harry Ramsden's restaurant area, it had failed to generate an operating profit.

The attraction, which also included a cafe area, created 30 jobs when it first opened.