Rising energy bills mean it will be a matter of “hanging in there” next season, according to the owner of an Angus ice rink.
Forfar Indoor Sports owner Mike Ferguson expects his costs to rise by as much as 40%.
While homeowners battle with keeping their houses warm, Mr Ferguson is battling keeping the ice rink cold.
It is the latest challenge faced by the business after a “torrid” two years through the Covid pandemic.
Mr Ferguson said rising energy bills has been a “double whammy” for the business.
“We feel we’re just out of the water with Covid and we’ve managed the business well. Now we’re being hit with the massively rising utility charges.
“It has been a torrid time for two-and-a-half years.”
Mr Ferguson is chairman of the Scottish Ice Rinks Association and will become president of Scottish Curling this summer.
“We’ve put ourselves on a sound footing to have survived the past couple of years when many others haven’t,” he added.
“Running an ice rink is a very costly business for energy, so we’ll have to look at other ways we can be more efficient.
“Everyone says prices have to go up, but in a leisure industry if that goes beyond affordability, people just stop.”
How Angus ice rink coped with Covid challenges
Forfar Indoor Sports benefited from a £1.75 million funding package from the Scottish Government in March 2021.
But the impact on ice sports across the country has been harshly felt, with many forced to close.
Mr Ferguson was encouraged by the performance of Forfar Indoor Sports in trying times.
He said: “We came out of Covid as well as could be expected.
“We had challenges all the way. We had to shut down mid-season, and that was a big challenge because we’re dealing with ice.
“You can’t just shut down or the ice will melt. It takes a good two or three weeks to make ice.
“You’ve got to run some risks during those periods and decide whether you should keep the ice and hope you reopen.
“The season for us was as good as could have been expected.”
Will rising costs mean prices increase?
He said the season – which finished earlier this month having started last September – has been “stressful”.
But he hopes for continued signs of recovery when ice sports return to Forfar for the beginning of next season.
“There are positives to be taken.
“We had the Winter Olympics and the success of a local girl, bringing home a medal, that did the sport no harm at all.
“It’s been a case of reacting to things as they happen.
“I think because we’re privately owned, we can make decisions on a daily basis. Other organisations can’t react quite as quickly.
“I think unfortunately next season is going to be another one of just hanging in there.
“Hopefully after that we see energy costs hopefully coming back down.”
