News / The Wave
The Wave gets new owners
The UK’s prime inland surfing destination The Wave has new owners.
The company has been acquired as a part of a financial restructure by a group of investors, after it abruptly closed on Thursday following financial challenges surrounding the bankruptcy of a director of one of their funding partners JAR Wave.
Founder Nick Houndsfield had also been terminated as director with Julian Topham announced to fill the role of CEO.
Julian has worked within the surf, music and sustainability sectors for many years – most notably founding and running Boardmasters and Vision Nine.
He is the chair of Surfing England and the Blue Earth Summit, alongside a number of other ventures.
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Julian said: “I have known about The Wave since it was just an idea, and have surfed it many times since it opened in 2019.
“I have worked in the surf industry for 25+ years and in my view The Wave is an extremely important part of the UK surf community and has the ability to grow and support a diverse and inclusive surfing community.
“I want to ensure it stays that way, and thrives, for the long term.
“We appreciate there has been huge uncertainty in the last week, for so many people, especially our wonderful Wavemaker staff, customers, and partners, so a big thank you for your understanding.
“There will be a short period of transition as the company changes hands and we get up to speed, but we are doing everything we can to make this as smooth and as fast as possible, and to get The Wave open again.”
It is unclear when the venue will reopen and with a calendar packed full of events over the summer including The Surf Show, visitors will be waiting on anxiously to see whether they will be able to catch a wave.
Main photo: The Wave
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