In 2023, Zip World celebrates its 10th anniversary. We take a look at one of the leading adventure companies in the UK.
SEAN Taylor founded Zip World in 2013 with a vision of becoming a world leader in adventure tourism. Almost 10 years on and it’s safe to say that the former Royal Marine is well on track to achieving his aims. Today, Zip World has six sites and welcomes 830,000 visitors a year.
An independent Economic Impact Assessment report conducted by North Wales Tourism in 2018 found that Zip World had attracted more than one million visitors to North Wales since 2013, adding over £251m to the local economy.
growth plans
Zip World burst on to the adventure tourism scene in April 2013 with the launch of Europe’s longest and fastest zipline ride at Penrhyn Slate Quarry, near Bethesda in North Wales. The ride allowed visitors to travel over a mile at speeds in excess of 90mph.
Since then, Velocity 2 has been turbo-charged to be even faster with riders now able to travel at speeds of up to 125mph, making it one of the most commercially successful zip lines in the world.
The business grew rapidly from there as Taylor sought to create more innovative products with mass-market appeal. Zip World now operates 23 adventure attractions across four sites in Wales and two in England providing a unique experience for all ages. These include the only alpine coaster and mountain cart experience in the UK, Europe’s highest giant swing, a subterranean bouncy net system and the world first adventure golf course set 500 feet below ground in a vast caverns system.
The sites are located at post-industrial slate quarries, two of which have UNESCO status, as well as woodland settings within national parks.
In December 2018, six years after its launch, Zip World secured a significant minority investment from mid-market private equity investor LDC, supported by the company’s existing banking partner, HSBC. The deal valued the business at £45m.
In 2022, Zip World acquired an existing high ropes course business, which runs two award-winning adventure and nets courses. The sites in Manchester and the Lake District saw Zip World expand into England for the first time.
mass-market appeal
Zip World is suitable for ages three and above – its oldest participant to date is 93. The attractions are especially popular with millennial families as well as groups including corporate, charity, schools and children’s parties and it has a dedicated accessibility team too.
Zip World recently created an educational programme for school groups designed specifically with Year 3-6 pupils with curriculum links to physics and geography. Taking learning to the great outdoors has benefits for teachers and pupils, which is why the company worked with education experts to create three exhilarating and one-of-a-kind educational programmes that aim to take teachers and pupils out of the classroom and into the Welsh countryside.
In addition to the attractions, the sites also offer restaurants, bars and cafes allowing Zip World’s customers and spectators to soak up the landscapes while enjoying a relaxing and engaging atmosphere.
exhilarating experiences
Investing in unique activities which appeal to people of all ages and abilities is something Zip World excels at. Pre-covid, Zip World Llechwedd was ripe for expansion, due in part, to the site having historical value which goes back many years. The vision was to find a new product to both be world-class and appealing to a new audience whilst also offering an ancillary product to existing visitors. The solution was to use the underground assets of Llechwedd, a former slate mine, to create the world’s first underground adventure golf set in a cavern. Built by Greenspan, the 18-hole course is set 500ft below the ground in a disused cavern and is only accessible by Europe’s steepest cable railway. It features impressive lighting, sound effects and interactive elements for visitors to enjoy as they putt their way through the course, with four floors to tackle. Opened in summer 2022, Underground Golf is on track to break through its projections helping to cement Llechwedd as the busiest site. Zip World continues to invest in new products and experiences to ensure repeat visits from its customers. This summer it launched the Tower Climber, a four storey, 30m adventure activity at its Zip World Tower site which is set in an old Tower Colliery coal mining site in South Wales’ Rhigos mountain range. The largest attraction of its kind in the UK, the new Tower Climber offers 69 different elements and obstacles, all of which have a coal mining theme in reference to the history of the site. Next spring will also see the launch of Skyflyer at Zip World Rhyl. Hailed as the first of its kind in the world, a flight experience onboard the blimp-like airship, propelled 140m in the air, gives visitors panoramic 360° views of the North Wales coast and all the way to Liverpool on a clear day. The company has more sites up its sleeve, with two new locations in planning for spring 2023 in the North West of England and a new proposed site for the South West of England due to open spring 2024. Post-pandemic demand has been unprecedented across all of Zip World sites and with even more unique new attractions around the corner, it looks likely that Zip World will continue to dominate the UK’s adventure tourism industry for the next 10 years too.
