` Book Classes Here
36 Monkspath Business Park,
Solihull,
B90 4NZ

Click here for map

Opening Times:

Monday
06:00 - 22:00

Tuesday
06:00 - 22:00

Wednesday
06:00 - 22:00

Thursday
06:00 - 22:00

Friday
06:00 - 22:00

Saturday
07:30 - 20:00

Sunday
07:30 - 18:00

Please see Timetable for bank holiday opening times

Email:

info@bardello.co.uk

HUGE,

FREE OF CHARGE,

ON-SITE,

SECURE & SAFE,

CAR PARKING

Bardello School of Dance



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Bardello team, December 2010. L to R: Venda Crawford, Laura Green, Nick Crawford, Lisa Wilson, Emma Bates, Heidi Cook (Insert). Photo Keith


I was more than a bit worried that with a 2-month total shutdown, we would lose a lot of our customers. I need not have worried, within a few weeks we were back to our pre-shutdown levels. Numbers then kept on increasing and demand was so great that we rapidly increased the number of weekly ZUMBA sessions to 12 introducing mornings and Saturdays. We also introduced ZUMBA’s low intensity session, ZUMBA GOLD.



Zumba numbers increased rapidly during the Spring of 2011. Photo Keith


We then had issues with numbers. At the 18:30 sessions we regularly exceeded the safety and comfort limit of 60 on the dance floor so we introduced the advanced booking system.



A view of reception with the bookings folders on the desk. We also started selling ZUMBAWEAR merchandise, margins were very thin, they still are, but they made the reception area more welcoming.


All’s going well - YES!

Oh dear. In the words of Adrian Mole, "Just my luck". I suddenly remembered that back in the Summer of 2010 as things were pretty dire, I had inadvertently sold the Bardello site to property developer Cala Homes. Back then, in 1485 and freezing cold, Cala Homes had purchased option (a right to buy) from me that they could exercise any time until October 2011. In March 2011, they announced that they would like to exercise the option on 31 May 2011. Panic!



Cala Homes bought the original Bardello site in May 2011 and re-named it Damson Grove. This is the Damson Grove development as of December 2011.


It's an ill wind though, as during that Spring of 2011 it also became very apparent that the Damson Lane venue was both too small - we were getting complaints about participant comfort and instructor visibility - and falling apart. We were also having huge problems with the car parking as we only had space for 80 cars and it was true mayhem at 19:30 every evening as the 18:30 session was leaving and the 19:30 session arriving. One evening I had to stop what was quite likely to have turned into fisticuffs as two ladies battled for the one free car parking space.



Spot the instructor - visibility from the back was a real issue.


Our fate was sealed; it really was, time to move!

After an extensive search throughout the borough of Solihull we found very few places that could accommodate us, as premises with large uninterrupted open spaces (they all have pillars galore!) are not as readily available as you might think. We identified only two realistic possibilities: The annex to Cranmore Place just off Cranmore Boulevard and one of the larger warehouse units on Monkspath Business Park; both located in Shirley, South Solihull. After great deliberations, we opted for the Monkspath option, signed leases and took possession on 1 June 2011.



Unit 37 Monkspath Business Park, May 2011. It's been described as being like the Tardis - looks small from the outside, but once you are in - wow! Doesn't my car look plain without the Bardello ZUMBA livery?



Inside, it's huge! You are now looking at the steel doors towards where the stage was.


We then engaged in the maddest panic imaginable to get the basics moved out of the old venue and into the new whilst the change from warehouse to Bardello ZUMBA nightclub took place. Here are some of the crazy things that had to be done in next to no time:

• Move 900, plates, 2,000 pieces of cutlery, 170 chairs, 50 tables, 8 fridges, the DL unit, the bar, the reception desk etc to Monkspath
  
  
• Procure and install a high-quality toilet block
  
  
• Lay 7,500 sq ft of wooden dance floor
  
  
• Erect 60ft by 12 ft 4-tonne steel stage
  
  
• Hang 600kg of flame-proof fabric
  
  
• Hang, cable and configure 80 LED par can lights
  
  
• Re-erect bar, DJ unit and reception desk
  
  
• Set up sound and video systems
  
  
• Test/update/install new electrics, fire and intruder systems
  
  
• Set up point-of-sale and customer database systems
  
  

OK, hold on to your hats, here we go!



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