Is the Bury National Performance Centre open or funded?

No. It is a concept at feasibility stage. There is a written proposal, a financial model under independent review and an active search for premises, advisers and partners. Nothing is contracted and no opening date has been set.

What would the centre actually contain?

The working model is a single-storey venue of roughly 13,500 sq ft combining a full-size basketball and community court, alternative provision and mentoring space, a boutique performance gym, recovery and wellbeing facilities, and leasable therapy and workshop rooms.

Grassroots basketball in the area is trapped in expensive, unreliable court rental, schools face rising pressure to place pupils outside mainstream classrooms, and there is no single venue combining sport, education and recovery. Bury is where the demand and the founder's existing programmes already sit.

How can I get involved?

Five routes are open right now: premises and property introductions, investment and social funding conversations, fractional COO and CFO roles, alternative provision, safeguarding and clinical partnerships, and naming rights or corporate sponsorship. Detailed financials are shared under a qualified conversation, not published here.

Concept · Feasibility stage

Building a permanent home for basketball, education and recovery in Bury

The Bury National Performance Centre is a proposed venue bringing a full-size court, alternative provision, a performance gym and recovery facilities under one roof. This page is the open record of how it moves from proposal to opening — including what is still unproven.

Where this honestly stands today

The centre is not open, not funded and not sited. What exists is a detailed written proposal, a financial model being validated independently, and live conversations about premises, advisers and delivery partners. Capital requirements, margins and investment structures are shared in a qualified conversation rather than published — so that every figure reaching a prospective partner has been checked. Recovery and wellbeing facilities would be operated with appropriately qualified partners and are positioned for performance, recovery and wellbeing, not medical treatment.

The problem the centre is designed to solve

Three separate local pressures keep colliding. A single venue is the only way to solve them together rather than one hour at a time.

The court-rental trap

Local basketball pays premium hourly rates for school and leisure-centre halls, with fixtures moved or cancelled at short notice. Rent rises, sessions shrink and no asset is ever built.

Pressure on alternative provision

Schools increasingly need structured, engaging places for pupils who are not thriving in mainstream classrooms. Sport-led provision with real mentoring is scarce locally.

Recovery is a luxury, not a habit

Strength, recovery and wellbeing facilities exist in the region, but rarely in one place, rarely affordable, and almost never alongside youth sport and education.

Five pillars under one roof

Each pillar stands on its own. Together they keep the building busy from the school day through to the evening.

Basketball & community court

A full-size, competition-standard court as the beating heart of the building — club training, fixtures, school partnerships, holiday programmes and open community sessions in permanent, predictable space.

Alternative provision & mentoring

Daytime provision for pupils who need structure, movement and mentoring, delivered with qualified education and safeguarding partners. The delivery route is being confirmed with specialist education and legal advice before anything is promised to schools.

Boutique performance gym

A strength and conditioning space serving athletes in the building by day and a capped, membership-based adult community around it — deliberately small, deliberately not a budget-gym model.

Recovery & wellbeing

Contrast and recovery facilities — cold immersion, red-light and recovery rooms — operated with qualified partners and framed around recovery, sleep and wellbeing rather than clinical claims.

Therapy suites & leadership workshops

Leasable rooms for physiotherapy, sports therapy and allied practitioners, plus a workshop space for corporate leadership and communication sessions drawn from the Xedge Performance methodology.

The operating principle: commercial hours fund community hours

Grassroots sport rarely fails on enthusiasm. It fails because the hours that matter most — youth sessions, school provision, open community access — are the hours that pay least.

The centre is designed so the commercially strong parts of the week carry the rest. Adult gym memberships, leased therapy suites, corporate workshops and evening bookings hold the building's fixed costs, which allows youth basketball and school provision to run at genuinely accessible rates without depending on a grant cycle to survive.

That is the same systems thinking behind the Thermal Audit and advisory work: find where the load sits, and redesign the structure so the pressure lands where it can be carried.

See how the same thinking is applied for clients

The live roadmap

Eight stages, updated as evidence arrives. Stages move backwards as readily as forwards if the research says they should.

1. Concept definition
Complete
The model, pillars and revenue logic written up in full, with a working capital and operating plan.
2. Feasibility & model validation
In progress
Independent review of the financial model, demand mapping across clubs and schools, and confirmation of the alternative provision delivery route with specialist education, safeguarding and legal advice.
3. Advisory team
In progress
Appointing a fractional CFO first to pressure-test the numbers, then a fractional COO focused on operations and property, each with a defined 60–90 day remit.
4. Pilot partnerships
Not started
Proving demand from an existing venue — school provision, club sessions and recovery trials — before committing to a building.
5. Premises search
Not started
Searching against a written brief: single-storey, adequate ceiling height for a full court, parking, transport links, permitted use, acoustics and utilities capacity.
6. Funding
Not started
Staged funding conversations with investors, social funders and sponsors, supported by a validated model and evidenced pilot demand.
7. Fit-out
Not started
Court installation, gym and recovery build, therapy suites and compliance sign-off.
8. Opening
Not started
Phased opening, starting with basketball and school provision, then gym, recovery and leased suites.

Progress journal

Dated entries as the work happens — decisions, setbacks and changes of direction included.

29/09/2026

Feasibility

Journey published

The concept and roadmap made public, with sensitive financial detail deliberately held back for qualified conversations. Priorities set: independent model validation, alternative provision delivery route, and a written premises brief before any site visits.

28/09/2026

Feasibility

Proposal completed

Full written proposal finalised covering the five pillars, a single-storey venue of roughly 13,500 sq ft, the cross-subsidy operating model and a staged capital plan.

27/09/2026

Facilities & Procurement

Initial sports flooring and court specifications

Exploratory discussions with commercial sports flooring specialists covering sprung timber systems, FIBA-compliant court dimensions and markings, acoustic considerations for neighbouring spaces, and preliminary procurement lead times.

Who we are looking for right now

Five open routes. If one describes you, the conversation is worth having at this stage rather than after decisions are locked.

Premises & property

Introductions to single-storey industrial or leisure space in and around Bury, or landlords and developers open to a long-term sport and education tenant.

Investors & social funders

Patient capital and social investment aligned with youth sport, education and community health outcomes. Full financials shared under a qualified conversation.

Fractional COO & CFO

A fractional CFO to independently validate the model, and a fractional COO with property and operations experience. Part-time engagements with defined 60–90 day outputs.

Education, safeguarding & clinical partners

Qualified alternative provision providers, safeguarding leads, physiotherapists and recovery practitioners to deliver and govern the regulated elements properly.

Naming rights & sponsorship

Corporate partners interested in naming rights, court sponsorship or funding a pillar of community access.

Straight answers

Is the Bury National Performance Centre open or funded?: No. It is a concept at feasibility stage. There is a written proposal, a financial model under independent review and an active search for premises, advisers and partners. Nothing is contracted and no opening date has been set.
What would the centre actually contain?: The working model is a single-storey venue of roughly 13,500 sq ft combining a full-size basketball and community court, alternative provision and mentoring space, a boutique performance gym, recovery and wellbeing facilities, and leasable therapy and workshop rooms.
Why Bury?: Grassroots basketball in the area is trapped in expensive, unreliable court rental, schools face rising pressure to place pupils outside mainstream classrooms, and there is no single venue combining sport, education and recovery. Bury is where the demand and the founder's existing programmes already sit.
How can I get involved?: Five routes are open right now: premises and property introductions, investment and social funding conversations, fractional COO and CFO roles, alternative provision, safeguarding and clinical partnerships, and naming rights or corporate sponsorship. Detailed financials are shared under a qualified conversation, not published here.

Register your interest

Tell us how you would like to be involved. Enquiries go directly to Mike Nichols, and detailed financial information is shared once we have spoken.