14. Riding on the crest of a in-land wave experience, with Nick Hounsfield, Founder of The Wave

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What happens when you are passionate about people’s health and wellbeing, you love surfing, and want to create something epic that combines the two?

You create a humongous 200 meter in-land surf lake!

In today’s episode I talk to Nick Hounsfield, founder and chief visionary officer of The Wave https://www.thewave.com, the first inland surfing destination near Cribbs Causeway, Bristol only five minutes from the M4/M5 interchange.

Costing over £25 million to create, Nick talks about how he managed to convince investors to support the project, how it finally opened as the world went into lockdown, and how four years on, along with his partner Craig Stoddard and a great team, they have navigated three very difficult years (that included Nick losing his ability to speak through a stroke) to become a thriving business, receiving up to 175,000 visitors per year.

Nick’s first career as an osteopath gave him his passion for caring for people’s health and wellbeing - he continues that passion today, driving the ‘blue health’ agenda for being in and around water. He has a burning desire to bring the benefits of his sport ‘surfing’ to as many people from different walks of life as he can and states that he will have failed if The Wave is something only enjoyed by the white, middle classes.

Listen to his exciting plans for the future of The Wave, Bristol including the taking the whole thing off-grid through the investment in solar panels, plus, how he is working on another amazing site in North London.

What a humble yet determined guy - Nick proves just what you can achieve if you really believe in something.

Enjoy the episode.

Find out more

The Wave

Nick on Instagram

Nick on Twitter

This episode is sponsored by Hello Starling.

Hello Starling, is an award-winning Media Planning and Buying agency that specialises in delivering advertising campaigns with great results for visitor attractions and destinations.
They've worked with brands such as Bristol Zoo Project, Visit Shropshire, Visit Conwy, Visit Herefordshire and the National Tourism Office for Poland. If you want to be the centre of attention, visit hellostarling.com today.
Find out more about the marketing strategy and mentoring services with the Visitor Elves.

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