News / The Wave
The Wave abruptly closed over financial troubles
The Wave, the inland surfing centre, has closed.
The closure came with no forewarning, with surfers and users of the centre booked in today arriving to closed doors.
Anyone looking to access their website will come up against a ‘lost’ message – image: The Wave
Majority owners, Sullivan Street Partners, claimed the closure followed problems surrounding the bankruptcy of a director of another funding partner JAR Wave.
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Founder Nick Houndsfield had also been terminated as director from The Wave on May 5.
In a bizarre turn of events it appears the closure came as a shock to most people, with The Wave last posting on Wednesday about an upcoming surf festival on July 12 and 13 at the centre.
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The Wave said in a statement: “The Wave Bristol has had to shut suddenly today, and also shut down its website.
“This decision has not been driven by operational failure or lack of customer demand—but for a financial technicality completely unrelated to commercial matters.
“The closure follows the bankruptcy of a director of a funding partner, JAR Wave.
“Despite The Wave Group repeatedly offering support and a full repayment to JAR Wave to solve their own issues, the creditor has instead opted to appear to attempt to take control of the business.
“We as The Wave Group, have lined up a refinancing that also provides funding for the initial development for London, which would see all creditors repaid in full within a week of now and is of course offering to reopen Bristol and continue to operate the park.
“To date these approaches have been ignored by JAR Wave, which has instead chosen to appoint administrators for the Bristol operating company.
“The Wave Group team apologises unreservedly for any upset caused and is doing its best to ensure the situation can be remedied.”
Bristol24/7 recently visited the one-of-a-kind site – photo: The Wave
The Wave, the only centre of its kind, was opened in 2019 to boost physical and mental health through surfing and nature connection.
The centre attracted surfers from 400,000 visitors from across the country to train and enjoy surfing in a safe environment.
Highly praised for its environmental credentials, to power the machine-made waves the centre built £26m-worth of solar panels and battery storage.
Bristol24/7 has reached out to its owners for comment.
Main photo: The Wave
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