Centre Manager - Rocks and Wheels, Dalbeattie, Dumfries and Galloway
After nine years of planning and around £8 million of investment, Rocks and Wheels is opening its doors in Dalbeattie, a friendly town of 4,000 people surrounded by forest, hills and the Solway coast.
Created by the community for the community, the centre has transformed the town's historic 1876 granite primary school, bell tower and all, into a unique base for outdoor adventure. It brings together a 54-bed bunkhouse, a café, an indoor bouldering wall, community rooms and an all-ability pump track. The pump track has already put Dalbeattie on the map by hosting a national UCI qualifier for the Pump Track World Championships. The centre sits right next to Dalbeattie Forest and the 7stanes mountain bike trails, and around 50 local children are already using the track every day.
We're now looking for our first Centre Manager to turn this exceptional facility into a thriving, sustainable business.
This is a rare chance to build something from the ground up. You'll lead the centre commercially, filling beds with school groups, youth organisations, families and outdoor enthusiasts, growing bookings and income, and managing the budget. You'll also lead a small team of staff and volunteers. In the early days you'll be hands-on and happy to step in wherever you're needed, while you build the team and systems that will let the business grow.
You'll have a background in hospitality, events or accommodation, with a commercial mindset and a track record of driving income. You'll be confident, outgoing and diplomatic, comfortable being the face of the centre in a close-knit community and working with a volunteer board and funders. Above all, you'll share our belief that a great business can also transform a town and the lives of its young people.
Rocks and Wheels is run by a community interest company owned by Dalbeattie Community Initiative, a local charity. Every penny of profit goes back into the community.
Message from the CEO:
“The development of Rocks and Wheels into a destination adventure centre is set to transform our community. Boosting visitor numbers, growing the local economy, creating meaningful employment, training and volunteering and improving health and wellbeing. The future-proofing of our most iconic building, rich in history and now secured to be enjoyed by future generations. Rocks and Wheels is ready to launch and grow into a flagship adventure centre for Scotland.”
Michelle McRoberts, CEO, Dalbeattie Community Initiative
Rocks and Wheels world class Pump Track:
In June this year, the Pump Track hosted the Velosolutions UCI Pump Track World Championships UK Qualifier. Athletes from all over the world competed for places at the Beijing finals.
Left and right: interior and exterior of the finished building.
Left and right: Work under way to finish the conversion of this iconic Dalbeattie school into the Rocks and Wheels centre.
