It would not buy you half a cup of hot chocolate in an Alpine cafe, but for just one Swiss franc - less than 50p - a British entrepreneur has become the proud owner of a ski resort.

Bruno Prior, a keen skier, will have the run of 12 miles of slopes and four lifts, not to mention all the machinery necessary to maintain his pistes above the Swiss village of Ernen. And he can survey his snowy domain from the terrace of his own restaurant.

Of course, there is a catch. Prior's company Summerleaze has had to promise to invest more than £20m to bring the resort up to scratch and save a village that has been in decline for years. It's a big job and Prior may be spending more time in his office than on the slopes.

The problem is that obscure resorts such as Ernen, which has only 500 or so residents, have struggled to keep pace with more fashionable places with grander facilities, better shopping, more vibrant nightlife and, perhaps, more reliable snow. Faced with financial disaster, Ernen appealed for help last year and found a British businessman looking for a challenge.

Yesterday, on a crystal-clear day, there was fresh optimism on the slopes thanks to Prior's intervention. Ski shop owner Heinz Seiler, pausing briefly from his neat parallel turns on the metre-deep snow to speak to the Guardian, said Prior was the village's "saviour".

Down in the valley at the tourist information centre, Nadine In-Albon said the village did not mind that its rescuer came from the UK, a country whose best-known skier remains the Olympic flop Eddie "the eagle" Edwards. "It would have been nice to have investment from Switzerland," she said. "But we are very happy to welcome Mr Prior. The village needed investment and we are so glad he has come. It's a good thing."

The crisis in Ernen, a pretty village of wooden chalets with only one small ski shop and one general store (and three sets of gallows, though nobody has been executed since 1764), peaked last season when the ski station lost £100,000 and the number of visitors staying overnight halved to 90,000.

As with popular British seaside towns, the main problem is the phenomenon of "cold beds". People buy second homes in resorts such as Ernen but only stay there for a few weeks of the year, a trend that wrecks businesses such as bars, shops and ski shops.

The knock-on effect is that young people move on. The village school in Ernen has only 13 pupils and may close if more families leave.

Plans to save Ernen by diversifying, including building an artificial lake for ice skating, were discussed and discarded. Then, realising it was close to collapse, the ski station in Ernen, which is partly owned by the village, decided to seek an investor.

The appealed for help was published in a Zurich newspaper and more than 100 people and companies from Asia, America and Holland expressed an interest. For legal reasons the business could not be given away - hence the one franc fee.

Prior, a 41-year-old businessman from Berkshire, persuaded the village that he was the man to revive the area's fortunes.

Though he is a keen sportsman, a windsurfer, rugby player and skier, the family firm's speciality is gravel and waste rather than snow. But he said: "It sounded fun so we thought we'd take a look."

Prior was struck by the beauty of the area but one problem was that the slopes are quite steep - fine for good skiers and snowboarders but not so great for beginners. The deal looked off.

Then one day Prior and his wife, Rachel, walked to the top of a slope and looked down the other side on to a gently shelving plateau, a perfect spot for beginners to find their feet.

Prior said: "In America they do family-friendly places with easier slopes very well. In Europe they aren't so common. We felt we may be able to offer that here."

The resort has tended to be popular with Swiss, German and Dutch skiers but Prior wants to bring in British and Scandinavian people too, without losing its regulars.

He won over other investors because he was keen not to develop property in the village - and probably create yet more "cold beds" - but to make the skiing side of it work well.

As well as developing the immediate ski area, Prior believes there is potential to link it into 120 miles of ski runs in the neighbouring valleys.

He believes that because the skiing area is reasonably high - 1,750 metres - the resort does have a future. He said: "It's a risk but any investment like this would be a risk. I think it's going to be a lot of fun."

Especially if he can find time to hone his skiing skills in his very own resort.