Zip World’s ‘Responsible Adventure’ project boosted by £6.2m of funding from North Wales Growth Deal

Zip World, the outdoor activity behemoth, has been awarded a £6.2 million funding injection as part of the North Wales Growth Deal.

The funds will be utilised to champion ‘responsible adventure’ in the UK, while stimulating local economies and promoting sustainable tourism.

The North Wales Growth Deal represents a £1 billion investment in the region, with £240 million collectively funded by the Welsh and UK Governments.

The Ambition Board announced that they had supported a recommendation to invite five new projects to join the Growth Deal portfolio – subject to agreement of certain conditions, each project will now go on to develop an outline business case. ‌

Zip World, which currently operates 29 attractions across seven UK sites, plans to use this funding to fuel its ambitious ‘Responsible Adventure’ growth project over the next two years.

Zip World’s Chief Commercial Officer, Andrew Hudson, commented on the recent funding allocation, “This funding will play a crucial role in transforming and widening our offering to tourists visiting North Wales all year round to help strengthen the region’s sustainable and thriving economy.”

Hudson also revealed plans to launch a cable car experience, a boon for visitors seeking an easily accessible viewpoint of North Wales’ stunning landscape.

He emphasised the project’s local community benefits, including year-round job opportunities, and a new electric bus (eBus) network to ease congestion during peak periods.

Zip World estimates the funding will allow them to boost the North Wales economy by an additional £6.8 million per year.

According to an Economic Impact Assessment conducted by North Wales Tourism, the company contributed an estimated £251 million to the local economy from 2013 to 2018.

With visitor numbers nearly doubling since the last report, an upcoming economic study this summer is anticipated to demonstrate significant growth in Zip World’s economic impact.

This success is partly attributed to recent additions like the world’s first underground adventure golf course and the gravity-powered Aero Explorer in Llechwedd and Penrhyn Quarry.

Rhodri Owen, Zip World’s Head of Projects for the North Wales Growth Bid, said, “We are extremely honoured and excited that our new ‘Responsible Adventure project’ is one of five to join the North Wales Growth Deal.”

He expressed optimism about the step towards becoming a B Corp company, which would affirm their commitment to balancing profit and purpose, whilst strengthening the local economy.

This recent development reaffirms Zip World’s commitment to sustainable tourism, local economic growth, and innovative outdoor adventure experiences, redefining the landscape of UK adventure tourism.

Five new projects

A Deeside Waste to Fuel Plant scheme is among five new projects to join North Wales Growth Deal.

Members of the North Wales Ambition Board supported a recommendation to invite the new projects on Friday, however, their public relations approach surrounding the news was frankly bonkers!

The Board includes members from six North Wales local authorities including Flintshire, academic institutions, with representatives from two universities, Bangor University in the North-West and Wrexham University in the North-East. Additionally, the Board includes two further education institutions, Grŵp Llandrillo Menai, which operates various sites across North-West Wales, and Coleg Cambria in North-East Wales. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

The Board and its PR firm cooked up an idea to offer the news of the new projects ‘exclusively’ to the Daily Post for a three-day period, something Deeside.com and our sister site Wrexham.com strongly objected to.

A spokesperson for the Board said: “We had the decision from our Board on the new projects announcement this morning. We had discussed and agreed to an exclusive press release with the Daily Post in the first instance and the press release will be shared wider on Monday.”

A few hours after voicing our concerns about their communication’s exclusive nature and our omission, the press release materialised on the North Wales Ambition Board’s site.

Yet, we didn’t receive anything from the PR firm until Monday, as they had pledged, which was three days post our publication of the story.

The projects are:

• Responsible Adventure project by Zip World – £6.2m
• Kinmel Studios project by Stage Fifty – £6.8m
• Holyhead Hydrogen Hub project by Menter Môn – £3.8m
• Deeside Waste to Fuel Plant project by The Circular Economy Ltd – £6.4m
• Wrexham Gateway project by Wrexham County Borough Council – £4.79m

Each organisation will agree a memorandum of understanding which will set out their expectations of them in relation to securing the funding. ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

Cllr Dyfrig Siencyn, Chair of the North Wales Ambition Board said: “We are pleased to support the recommendation that these five exciting new projects can proceed to the next phase in order to secure Growth Deal funding.” ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

‘They are transformational projects which have the potential to be significant additions to the North Wales economy and to generate additional investment and employment opportunites in key sectors.” ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​

“They reflect our vision for innovative and sustainable economic prosperity through collaboration between public and private sectors.” ‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌​