Climb Quest are WINNERS at the MKBAA Awards 2025

Climb Quest Milton Keynes are winners of this years ‘Leisure, Entertainment and Hospitality’ category at the Milton Keynes Business Achievement Awards, hosted at Stadium MK on 20th March 2025.

The fantastic evening had over 500 guests in attendance, and 51 finalists across 16 categories. This year’s theme was ‘Bridging the Gap: Skills & Learning for Our Future Workforce’ and all finalists demonstrated their excellent work and commitment to developing the future workforce of MK. It was an honour to be up against such amazing finalists and to see some of the organisations we have worked with such as MKFM and MK SNAP.

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The Co-Centre Manager, Jamie Ravilious comments:

"We are exceptionally proud to be recognised for our continuous efforts of contributing to the MK leisure scene and shaping our future workforce.

To win an award which focuses on our main purpose, bringing leisure and entertainment to the community for families and friends to enjoy together, is something we are particularly pleased about."

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When writing our submissions, we were asked:

How does your leisure and entertainment proposition enhance MK?

Climb Quest serves as an exciting but accessible gateway to the increasingly popular sport of climbing, seen by our visitors increasing 25% in the week after Team GB’s Olympic success.

Our amazing looking climbing centre jumps out from the screen for prospective visitors, helping showcase Milton Keynes as a city taking leisure and entertainment to new heights. We work closely with Destination MK, including being part of their influencer programme. Customer reviews show the sense of achievement and pride that visitors get from experiencing Climb Quest.

The activity is inclusive for a hugely diverse range of ages, abilities, and confidence levels, which fits with Milton Keynes’ ethos as a dynamic and inclusive city. We work with Milton Keynes City Council and other stakeholders in the city to keep developing this.

In the last year, we have donated over 1,000 free climbing sessions in the last year to charities and schools. Climb Quest has given Milton Keynes’ charities, companies and youth groups an exciting way to raise £10,000s.

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How does your organisation work to close the skills gap and provide learning opportunities?

A large proportion of our staff are under 18 and in their first job. They are supported in their roles with a training programme and develop valuable life skills for their futures, such as customer service, communication and helping a diverse range of people.

We provide inhouse and external training on specialist areas such as climbing safety and maintenance, NICAS climbing courses, safeguarding, mental health and working with visually impaired and deaf customers.

All our full-time team have been with the centre since it launched in 2020 and have progressed in the company. This has included our Marketing Manager, who started as a climbing instructor, completed a Marketing degree and started her marketing career with us. Other Managers have completed Level 3 and 5 apprenticeships through the company.

We also take on students every year for work experience placements and help with career talks through Worktree, a local charity.

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When announcing Climb Quest as this year’s winner, the panel from MKBAA said:

"The judges were impressed with the strong family ethos this company has and their commitment to bridging the skills gap through apprenticeships and training was highly commended. They are focused on their strategy and have clear business goals.

They are working with young people and their dedication to being an inclusive entertainment venue was also recognised through their youth groups, disability sessions and visually impaired sessions."

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The Climb Quest team are bursting with pride, and it is wholesome to feel part of our motto ‘be proud of what you achieve’, thanks to the judges.

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