Karting North East acquisition sparks five-year plan and £100k for local economy

The new owner of one of the region’s leading karting venues has pledged investment to make it into one of the best tracks in the UK.

Since acquiring Karting North East, Matthew Hunter has identified the changes he wants to make through his five-year plan for the site, and has secured two national events for the venue, predicted to generate in excess of £100k each for the local economy.

The 1,200m outdoor track, in Warden Law, is to play host to the British Championships in September 2020 for the first time in a decade, and will be the venue for its first owner/driver meeting for the first time in seven years this Sunday (December 8).

Matthew, father of karting stars Rhys and Kai Hunter, is planning to invest in refurbishing the venue’s fleet of karts and is also improving the facilities on-site for drivers and spectators alike.

A new function room has also been created to help grow Karting North East’s corporate event and private hire options.

A junior academy is also set to be launched in the near future and current British number one Kai, playing a leading role in coaching children to become the karting stars of the future.

The site also offers a range of other outdoor sports, including archery, tomahawk and paintball, all of which will see investment, alongside the introduction of some new activities including air rifles.

Paul Bainbridge, general manager at Karting North East, said: “We are keen to work more closely with the region’s corporate market and our new function room will allow us to offer great events in a way the venue hasn’t done previously, alongside parties and private functions.

“Even the smaller changes we’ve made, like introducing new furniture into our clubhouse, have had a big impact, and our catering turnover has doubled in the past few weeks through us offering better coffee and homemade food.

“As well as offering comfortable surroundings for drivers and spectators, we are also being used as a venue for business meetings, and playing that kind of role in the local community is exactly what we want to achieve.”

Matthew purchased Karting North East with support from law firm Sintons.

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