The Wave Uncertainty remains over surf venue's future in ownership battle

THE future of The Wave Bristol, the inland surfing lake near Cribbs Causeway, remains uncertain as the messy row over its ownership, debt, administration and management descended into acrimony and the involvement of the police, over the weekend.

- Tristan CORK

The Bristol site has now been sold by the administrators, which the Post revealed last week had been called in by one of its major shareholders back in April.

But the site remains closed for the time being, and an apparent plan to reopen it on Saturday collapsed late on Friday night.

The Wave now appears to be owned by a new company called Surf Bristol Limited, with a new group of investors taking over the site. They have named Julian Topham as its interim chief executive during what they call a 'transition period.

Mr Topham is the man who founded and runs the Boardmasters surf and music festival in Cornwall, and another company called Vision Nine.

Mr Topham, who is also the chairman of Surfing England and the Blue Earth Summit, asked for patience while this new team get together to reopen The Wave.

"I have known about The Wave since it was just an idea, and have surfed it many times since it opened in 2019," he said.

"I have worked in the surf industry for 25-plus 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. We appreciate there has been huge uncertainty in the last week, for so many people, especially our wonderful staff, customers, and partners, so a big thank you for your understanding.

"There will be a short period of transition as a 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 get The Wave open again."