Feasibility Analysis for an Annex to Top Athletics Arena in Morecambe

Feasibility Report For Athletics On The Coast Limited

This report is an initial step in determining how feasible it is to have an annexe to Top Athletics Arena in the nearby towns of Morecambe, Blackpool and Formby. It includes detailed analysis of the suitability of each of the three proposed sites and a recommendation on the most suitable site for expansion. The report was prepared by Strata Construction Consulting Limited, specializing in business dissertation help and strategic consulting for construction projects.

Overview of The Project

The purpose of this report was to validate the feasibility of expanding the Top Athletics Sports Arena to Southport’s neighbouring towns. This Sports Complex is owned by Athletics on the Coast Ltd (ACL). The Strata Construction Company used two basic criteria as part of evaluating the feasibility of the proposed Top Athletics Arena Extreme:

It must create a general positive economic impact through increased revenues from both local and non-local athletes, tourists and families.

It must be optimized operationally so as to ensure greater diversity while maximising the opportunity to attract both local and non-local users.

Strata Construction Consulting Limited was approached by ACL regarding its interest in the expansion of TAA to attract increased revenue and diversity of the existing sports facility. In this detailed feasibility report, the potential impact that these proposed new facilities may have on the usage and economic performance were put into consideration.

Sports have an amazing way of making a unique impact in society. And they can only be practical in well-constructed facilities. Sporting facilities bring people from neighbouring towns and villages together. The increase of people brings about more revenue into the hosting town. Local businesses as well as other forms of entertainment see increased revenue during large events.

Benefits To The Business

Generally, sports is a billion-dollar business. It plays a large role in the economy of England, larger than many would think. Southport is a home to football, rugby, golf, kite surfing, cycling, and speedway racing sports. These games, in a way, contribute to the economy of the area.

Located west of England in Southport, Top Athletics Arena is a competitive venue for sports that gives an equal opportunity to all. Southport being the eleventh most populous settlement in the seaside, the expansion of the TAA was deemed beneficial to the business since the large traffic in the facility would contribute to increased revenue.

A sports team attracts tourists and companies to the host town, further increasing local spending and jobs. Expansion of TAA will create i) Construction jobs, ii) People who attend games or work for the team generate new spending in the community, and iii) Expansion of local employment thus decreased crime rates.

Another benefit to the business is the obvious improvement of its brand image. By having an alternative Sports venue, Athletics on the Coast Ltd will stand out as a brand with customer interests at the top of its priorities. While they have awfully functional sports arena, they are going out of the way and constructing a new one for the sake of diversity. This will be interpreted as a kind gesture by the public, and the business will win the hearts of even more sportspersons and fans.

Another benefit of this proposed expansion to ACL is that they will gain a better competitive advantage over their competitors. In the current world, every business is striving to position itself as the best service provider every customer should subscribe to. Expanding its facilities this way will propel ACL a few steps ahead of its main competitors. Competitive advantage translates to increased business opportunities without much of a hustle.

Objectives of The Feasibility Report

The main objective of this feasibility report was to determine how practical and reasonable the proposed expansion of TAA is. To achieve this, the following specific objectives were considered:

To determine the profitability of TAA-Extreme in relation to the existing location

To investigate the connectivity between the existing TAA and the proposed TAA-Extreme in terms of infrastructural developments.

To analyse the economic impacts of TAA-Extreme to the business model of ACL

To identify the benefits of TAA-Extreme to the locals and the country at large

To determine the key beneficiaries of TAA-Extreme

National, Regional and Local Economies and Communities of Interest

Economic impact in sporting events can be defined as the net change in an economy resulting from a sport event. The change is caused by activity involving the acquisition, operation, development, and use of sport facilities and services. These in turn generate guests’ spending, public spending, employment opportunities, and tax revenue. Specifically, the economic impacts of expenditure are composed of direct, indirect, and induced effects.

Direct effects are the purchases needed to meet the increased demand of visitors for goods and services. Indirect effects are the ripple effect of additional rounds of re-circulating the initial spectators’ cash. Induced effects are the increase in employment and household income that result from the economic activity fueled by the direct and indirect effects.

Sporting facilities play a vital role in the economy throughout the world. Sport and physical activity contributes £39 billion to the UK’s economy and a significant portion of this comes from grassroots sport: the millions of people who buy trainers, bikes, gym memberships or pay match fees. The sector boosts the economy either directly, through job creation, or indirectly by reducing healthcare costs due to a healthier population and reducing crime.

Major sporting events have a huge economic impact on the locals through direct expenditure of visitors associated with the event. Fans and tourists bring money that normally wouldn’t be there. This money benefits accommodation providers, local travel, shops – even car parks.

Sporting events and new sporting facilities also influence related sectors such as construction. Leisure gyms can see a rise in membership and sports retail, as well as tourism. Lasting economic benefits from major events may ultimately come from new infrastructure and land regeneration, but the appeal of regular sporting fixtures to foreign tourists can have a more immediate effect.

Southport is home to Southport FC, Southport Rugby Football club, Royal Birkdale Golf Club, West Lancashire Yacht Club and Southport Sailing Clubs. These teams attract a diverse population who contribute to the socio-economic development of TAA.

Blackpool, Formby and Marcombe also harbour various sporting clubs. These clubs hold events in various sporting facilities in the town bringing about visitors who improve the economic status of these areas.

On a national scale, Southport hosts sports competitions that attract thousands of visitors from across England. These need sports facilities that are in good shape in order for them to derive maximum joy. High schools and universities are especially frequent users of such facilities, considering the zonal, provincial and national competitions they engage in in the course of their academic year as part of co-curricular activities.

Southport is also a popular tourist destination, having sandy beaches, golden dunes, and interesting coastal promenades. Dwellers from the adjacent cities of Manchester and Liverpool flock to the coastal city for leisure. Not only these, but also tourists from across the country and the entire world. In their pursuit of leisure, those who come in teams at times need to hire such sports facilities for games and team-building exercises.

Methodology

A logical planning process was employed to determine the practicability of the proposed expansion of TAA to TAA-Extreme.

Data collection and analysis

The feasibility studies began with an extensive data collection process involving researching on the local and regional surroundings, economic status, gaps in the sports sector, and proximity of Formby, Marcombe and Blackpool in relation to Southport.

Regarding connectivity, it was ascertained that there are 5 ways to get from Southport to Formby - that is by train, bus, taxi, car or town car. It takes approximately 15 minutes to travel from Southport to Formby by train, taxi and uber, and 22 minutes by Line47 bus. The distance between Southport and Formby is 7 miles. The road distance is 7.5 miles.

The average journey time between Southport and Blackpool is 3 hours 13 minutes by train and line 47 bus. A taxi or self drive will get you in Blackpool in approximately 51 minutes after leaving Southport. It is impossible to walk across the sands between Blackpool and Southport. The distance between Blackpool and Southport is 12 miles. The road distance is 33.1 miles.

The cheapest way to get from Morecambe to Southport is to drive which costs £8 - £12 and takes 1h 2m. The distance between Morecambe and Southport is 30 miles. The road distance is 46.1 miles. It takes approximately 5 h 4 min to travel via M5 and M6 from Southport to Morecambe. One can get to Moracambe via train, taxi or self drive.

Strata Construction consulting Limited additionally compiled data based on infrastructure, economic status, proximity, diversity as well as competitive facilities of TAA-Extreme and its impacts on the revenue of the business. After data collection followed the analysis of the data. Fundamental principles of comparison were engaged to come up with the most practical site for the expansion.

Top Athletics Arena is located in Southport, a large seaside town in Merseyside. The distance between Formby and Southport is 7 miles. The road distance is 7.5 miles. The close proximity between the two towns makes it easier for the expansion. Since it is only 15 minutes by train to Formby from Southport, management of TAA-Extreme will be simpler. It will be possible to hold similar events in the two facilities and resources can be shared easily. TAA-Extreme will add to the existing sporting facilities in the area thereby improving the economic status of the area and increasing the revenue of the business.

It takes 1hr 2 mins to get to Southport from Blackpool via A583 road. Blackpool is 33.1 miles away from Southport. It may prove quite difficult to navigate to TAA-Extreme. A lot of time will be wasted if a similar event that requires coordination is to be held in both Blackpool and Southport.

Morecambe, being 46.1 miles away from Southport by road, is the furthest of all the three sites from Southport. A Lot of resources will be needed in the long run, in terms of cost and management. This will be quite costly to the business as it will take longer to get to TAA-Extreme. Additionally, it may prove impractical to use the new facilities as a backup when the main facility is overbooked. During peak seasons, there is high likelihood that the sports facility may be booked to capacity. If the new facilities are not near the main, any further bookings may have to be cancelled, especially if the interested persons specifically desire to be in Southport and can’t stand being referred miles away. That amounts to loss of business opportunities.

Key stakeholders

The stakeholders were categorised into 3 sectors, i.e. The Client (ACL), the government and local authorities.

ACL is the main stakeholder in the expansion project. This is essentially a family-run business with great interest in Sports. Being a profit-driven venture, the company needs to settle on the option that will attract the highest revenue. In business, value addition is only feasible if it ends up being profitable. Failure to critically weight the options may lead in revenue loss and even bankruptcy, given the huge amounts of money the company will have invested in the construction.

This established, Morcombe seems to be the most profitable location. Similarly, residents and guests in Blackpool will contribute to ACL’s increase in revenue. Its distance from the current location of TAA will be the main reason for this. People have a tendency to love new things. TAA-Extreme will thrive well here.

Since the people living in Formby are used to the sports facility being around, they will less likely embrace TAA-Extreme. ACL will get less returns when they expand the arena to Formby.

Government

Construction of TAA-Extreme means creation of employment and increased revenue to the government through taxes. Regardless of the site for expansion, the government of England will reap benefits from the expansion of TAA to either of the proposed three sites.

Local authorities

TAA-Extreme will benefit the locals of Formby, Morecambe and Blackpool. Since every citizen will want to use such facilities, jobs will be created. As a result, the income generated will improve the socio-economic status of the area.

The local authorities stand to benefit with the construction of TAA-Extreme. Good infrastructure, revenue from tourists are some of the main contributions of the expansion of TAA to these towns. Each of these three regions have different local authorities. Formby is under the jurisdiction of Sefton Council, Morcambe under the jurisdiction of the Lancaster City Council, and Blackpool under the jurisdiction of Blackpool council. All these have different minor building regulations, under the umbrella national building legislation, and therefore may impact the expansion project in different ways.

Transport Infrastructure Links

All public facilities must be serviced by appropriate infrastructure. In the case of a sports facility, the most important considerations relate to travel to and from the sports facility and associated investment such as road networks and rail systems. Where such infrastructure does not currently exist, a holistic approach would require that investment in new infrastructure be evaluated together with any planned spend on TAA-Extreme.

Costs, including total infrastructure costs, have been central to Formby being the currently favoured solution in regards to proximity to TAA. The infrastructural network at Blackpool is well established but requires new investments given the increasing demands placed on the town. The location of TAA-Extreme needs to reinforce better integration between land use and transportation by building upon the existing infrastructure base of the town.

An airstrip is required to facilitate easier access to Morecambe. Construction of an airstrip is very costly and requires a lot of time. At the time of compiling this report, there were no plans by any flight company to expand its operations to Morecambe. The closest airports to Morecambe are i) Blackpool Airport (34.8 km), Leeds Bradford Airport (81.8 km), Liverpool John Lennon Airport (81.8 km), and Manchester Airport (88.4 km). This factor disqualifies Morecambe as an appropriate site for TAA-Extreme.

Social Infrastructure

Social infrastructure plays an important role in the economic development of a nation and the society’s way of life. TAA-Extreme stands to benefit the social well-being of England by enhancing constructive interaction and boosting economic growth by providing basic services and facilities that will allow businesses to develop and flourish.

Social infrastructure includes facilities such as medical centers, training facilities, schools, residential student accommodation, state housing, defence housing, local government facilities, water and wastewater treatment, bus stations, park and rides, prisons, and courthouses. In the assessment of the latest census reports from the three towns, Blackpool seems to be the most privileged in terms of social infrastructure, but not to say that the social infrastructure in Formby and Morecambe is poor. A compromise will have to be struck after balancing all the selection criteria.

Benefits to Regional and Local Economies

According to research, sports facilities have a useful economic life of upto 30 years. Regional and local economies of the three sites will experience net change in the economy resulting from a sporting event in TAA-Extreme.

Activities involving acquisition, operation, development and use of sports facilities contribute both directly and indirectly to the economy.

Sporting facilities bring more than fan excitement to a town. In addition to the thrill of the games, these events funnel millions of dollars into the area in the form of hotel reservations, bar and restaurant sales, and adult entertainment spots.

Aside from financial benefits, one often overlooked indirect benefit is the health of the populations. Engaging in sports makes one healthy as the body experiences lower blood pressure, lower heart disease rates, deployed onset of diabetes, and overall increased longevity. Also, engaging in sports reduces the general stress levels of the participants. Families that play together tend to stick together for longer. Children who engage in sports are likely to perform better in class because of the improved mental energy. All these have a profound effect on how productive the residents are at their places of work. In a nutshell, a healthy nation is a wealthy nation.

Construction Methods

The construction method adopted will largely depend on the existing site conditions and proximity to material sources. At this point of the project, it can suffice to claim that none of the three sites has an advantage over the other in regards to the method of construction to be employed. All the three areas are rich in construction material supply. The only inconvenience that may arise is the frequent commuting of the supervisory team from the client side.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The idea of TAA-Extreme is a considerably feasible project. Its benefits to the business and the entire community are very evident. It is difficult to identify the possible negative impacts of the sports facilities. As such, ACL should carry on with the project. The only hindrance may be financial strain, in case the business has not amassed enough funds for the construction project. Otherwise, all factors held constant, in my opinion, Formby is the best site for the expansion of TAA to TAA-Extreme, bearing in mind the factors discussed above.

It is recommended that ACL carries out a deeper investigation of Formby as a potential location of the new sports facilities. This was but a preliminary investigation, for which minute details may have been missed. Likewise, ACL should look into proposing the exact location of the proposed new Sports facilities. This will help to narrow the investigations into a definite location, as opposed to a general area.

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