WT Skip Hire

Providing the Skips for the Great Yarmouth Festive Ice Rink

Posted on: 07/12/2017

One of our skip hire vehicles.

It’s beginning to look a little like Christmas in Great Yarmouth now. Last year’s highly successful real ice rink is back for another year and this time Great Yarmouth council want even more people to enjoy the rink. In this blog, we will be talking about how we helped with the process of installing the ice rink and what it means for the community as a whole. 


Previous Successes of The Ice Rink 


Although the ice rink has been met by criticism in the past, it does definitely improve footfall in the town centre. In 2015, within the fist three days of the rink being installed over 850 people had already enjoyed the ice skating rink. It’s main aim is to increase footfall in the town centre market area and in 2015, on the first day of the Christmas fayre footfall in the city went up by 26%.  


Last year, the rink exceeded its expectations number-wise, with over 11,300 adult, child and group tickets sold. Many people took to the rink more than once and on its most popular day (December 23rd last year) 590 tickets were sold. Again, the rink battled the trend of declining footfall in the town centre, with footfall higher overall than 2015, including by 10% on boxing day


What Is the Controversy Surrounding the Rink? 


Although the rink is great for bringing people to the town, it does have some negatives. It is estimated it costs Great Yarmouth Borough Council over £100,000 every year the rink is erected, something several Facebook users have been grumbling about behind their computer screens. Councillors were also torn between the return of the rink, with six voting for the rink to return but seven for it not to reappear last year. 


Our Part in The Installation  


As a company based in Great Yarmouth, we were delighted when the event organisers contacted us and asked us to provide a skip. Despite being in our home town, the job was a lot trickier than we expected. We were required to install the skip late in the afternoon of Tuesday the 22nd of November and then collect it early the next morning, to avoid the high number of people in the market area. The skip was important in keeping the area safe and clean while the team set up the infrastructure for the ice rink. 


Despite all of the negative opinions on the ice rink, we believe that anything that adds to the atmosphere of the market should be encouraged. The ice rink has been open since the 24th of November and is proving popular again, let’s hope that this continues.


Got any winter jobs that require a skip? We can help, order now and make the most of our 10% off offer. Call us on 01493 668118 or email us on info@wtskiphire.co.uk


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