Cloudbase

The sky’s the limit for new co-operative

Lee Bligh and Fiona Burgess of Cloudbase

The sky's the limit for a new business that tells customers to take a running jump.

Cloudbase Paragliding School, based in the Vale of Pewsey in Wiltshire, is one of only two companies with which thrill-seekers can learn the sport in a large geographical area from Avon to Berkshire, Gloucestershire to Hampshire, and Oxfordshire to Wiltshire.

Formed by business partners Lee Bligh and Fiona Burgess, Cloudbase has been launched as a joint ownership co-operative by Co-operative Futures, a business consultancy set up and partly funded by the Midcounties Co-operative Limited, which promotes the co-operative business model across Gloucestershire, Swindon, Wiltshire and Oxfordshire.

Both partners are experienced paragliders: Lee, a fully qualified instructor, learned to fly in 1987 and by 1993 was teaching and competing in the British Championships. Fiona caught the bug after watching the sport on the local Wiltshire Downs. She started paragliding in 2006 and is qualified at pilot level.

Paragliders use a canopy and thermals to fly. Manually launching themselves from hilltops, experienced flyers can travel for many miles by using thermal winds to gain height and steering from one to another at heights up to several thousand feet above the ground. The world paragliding cross country record stands at over 300 miles and even the UK record is over 125 miles.

Although specialist equipment is required, it is not an expensive sport. Just over £3,000 will see a participant from their first lesson to flying solo with all the equipment they need, thanks to the relationship that Cloudbase has with Austrian manufacturer TEAM 5, for which they are the sole UK distributor of paragliders, harnesses and emergency parachutes.

And because the Wiltshire countryside is the centre of club flying in the region, participants can practise virtually on their doorsteps.

And if choosing the co-operative model of business - with its code of ethics and principles of common ownership - seems unusual for a couple of former RAF personnel setting up an adventure sports company, Lee and Fiona have their reasons.

"Although paragliding seems a very solitary sport - and it certainly is once you're in the air - it is, in fact, a very sociable pastime," explains Lee. "The paragliding community is a close-knit one. We keep in touch with each other, giving local weather updates by mobile phone, and share tips and anecdotes on the hillside while we are waiting to launch.

"We are also respectful of the countryside and work closely with farmers and environmental agencies to ensure our sport does not interfere with agriculture or wildlife, and because the sport is wind-powered it is environmentally-friendly and quiet, so it does not impact adversely on local communities. Passers-by often stop to enjoy the sight of paragliders flying and find out how to have a go."

Fiona adds: "As Cloudbase grows we would like other staff to join us on an equal footing. This company isn't entirely about making a profit; it's about being paid for doing something we enjoy doing, and introducing this growing sport to others. In those ways, the co-operative ethos suits us perfectly, and we were delighted at the ease and affordability of becoming a co-operative."

Cloudbase - a technical term for the bottom of the clouds, a height that all beginner paragliders aspire to reach - offers tandem flights as gifts, training courses for beginners and novices, and paragliding holidays for experienced flyers - in September they will be leading a trip to Slovenia, where pilots will be able to fly from 4,000ft high mountains.

Through the Flyability scheme, the school also offers discounted sessions for disabled people.

Jim Pettipher of Co-operative Futures said: "Although the co-operative movement has its roots in industry, agriculture and retail, its is also strong in the worlds of arts, culture, leisure and sport, where employees, members or supporters have formed companies or organisations under the co-operative banner.

"A co-operative can be formed by any business or organisation whose members aspire to meet common economic, social or cultural needs though a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise. Co-operative Futures exists to offer advice and help people achieve their co-operative goals."

For more information about Cloudbase, log on to www.cloudbaseparagliding.com Anyone interested in starting or growing a business that is a co-operative or community owned enterprise can contact Co-operative Futures on 0845 456 2506 or at info@co-operativefutures.coop

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