Zip World is a Welsh outdoor adventure activity company based in

Llanrwst Llanrwst ('church or parish of Saint Grwst'; ) is a market town and community on the A470 road and the River Conwy, in Conwy County Borough, Wales, and the historic county of Denbighshire. It developed round the wool trade and became known als ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, United Kingdom. The company operates four sites in Wales, primarily focused on

zip line A zip-line, zip line, zip-wire, flying fox, or death slide is a pulley suspended on a cable, usually made of stainless steel, mounted on a slope. It is designed to enable cargo or a person propelled by gravity to travel from the top to the bott ...

s and outdoor adventure activity courses.

History

Zip World was created by Sean Taylor, an ex-Royal Marines commando from the

Conwy Valley , name_etymology = , image = Boats in River Conwy.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = Boats in the river estuary at Conwy , map = , map_size = , map_caption = , push ...

, based on his military experiences using zip lines and

sky-diving Parachuting, including also skydiving, is a method of transiting from a high point in the Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere to the surface of Earth with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachut ...

. Taylor focused on converting heritage industrial sites into adventure playgrounds, making

North Wales , area_land_km2 = 6,172 , postal_code_type = Postcode , postal_code = LL, CH, SY , image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg , map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...

into an important adventure activity centre in Europe. Taylor launched 'Treetop Adventures' in 2007 (now Zip World Fforest). "Zip World" was launched in 2013 with 8 staff, with the opening of Zip World Velocity at

Penrhyn quarry The Penrhyn quarry is a slate quarry located near Bethesda, North Wales. At the end of the nineteenth century it was the world's largest slate quarry; the main pit is nearly long and deep, and it was worked by nearly 3,000 quarrymen. It has ...

in March. In 2014, Zip World Titan and Bounce Below at

Llechwedd Slate Caverns Llechwedd () is a visitor attraction near Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, Wales. It details the history of slate quarrying in the town and specifically the Llechwedd quarry in which it is located. The main aspect of Llechwedd is its Llechwedd De ...

opened, followed by Zip World Caverns at the same location in 2015. Zip World Fforest, a redevelopment of Treetop Adventures, opened in 2016. In August 2017, it became sponsors of

Eirias Stadium Eirias Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Eirias), known for sponsorship reasons as Stadiwm CSM, is a multi-purpose stadium that is part of the outdoor complex of the Eirias Events Centre in Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay, Wales. It is home to the Principality Premi ...

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...

, branding it as , which was retained as the brand name until a new sponsor took over in June 2022. In 2021, the company had 250 staff, with up to 3,500 visitors per day during the peak holiday periods. The company stated it was set to report a turnover of £10 million for 2021, with a profit of £5.5 million. The company is said to be valued at almost £100 million by September 2022, and has ambitions to expand further, but remaining based in Wales and being regarded as a Welsh company. The company bought out a business operating in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

and is looking to the accommodation and sustainable transport sectors, while considering a rebrand by the end of 2022, potentially "ZW" to address their increasingly non-Zip line business.

Sites

Zip World operates four sites, three in

North Wales , area_land_km2 = 6,172 , postal_code_type = Postcode , postal_code = LL, CH, SY , image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg , map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...

and one in

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

. Three northern sites are in close proximity to each other and comprises sites at

, and Zip World Fforest near

Betws-y-Coed Betws-y-coed (; '' en, prayer house in the wood'') is a village and community in the Conwy valley in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located in the historic county of Caernarfonshire, right on the boundary with Denbighshire, in the Gwydir Forest. ...

. It also operates the Zip World Tower in

Rhondda Cynon Taf Rhondda Cynon Taf (; RCT; also spelt as Rhondda Cynon Taff) is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It consists of five valleys: the Rhondda Fawr, Rhondda Fach, Cynon, Taff (Welsh: ''Taf'') and Ely valleys, plus a number of towns and vil ...

in south Wales. Zip World was scheduled to open the Skyflyer

airship An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Flintshire (historic), Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at ...

, north Wales in July, then August 2022, however the launch was postponed to early 2023 due to bad weather and engineering issues.

Penrhyn Quarry

Zip World Penrhyn Quarry houses the world's fastest, and Europe's longest zip line, known as Velocity 2. The four parallel zip lines span almost across and over the quarry's lake, reaching speeds over .

Llechwedd

Zip World Llechwedd Adventures, based around the Llechwedd slate mines, offers a Deep Mine Tour of the caverns, an underground trampoline park known as Bounce Below, the world's largest underground zip wire course, and multiple stand-alone zip lines termed "Titan", including Europe's first four-person zip line as well as a shorter zip line. The site opened the world's first underground golf course in the site's caverns in 2022.

Fforest

Zip World Fforest houses the UK's only alpine coaster, Europe's largest net walkway above the ground, and Zip Safari 2, a hanging zip-line and obstacle course above ground. It also houses, a 'Tree Hoppers' beginner assault course, the Plummet 2 tandem drop high tower, Europe's highest giant swing Skyride 2, and a Fforest Coaster through woodlands.

Tower

Zip World Tower, near

Aberdare Aberdare ( ; cy, Aberdâr) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tyd ...

in the

Rhigos Rhigos () is a small village on the saddle of higher ground between the Vale of Neath and the Cynon Valley. It was part of the old Neath Rural district Council under Glamorgan until 1974. The village then came under the jurisdiction of The Cynon ...

mountain range in South Wales, is situated at the former Tower Colliery coal mining site, housing Phoenix and Tower Flyer.

Proposed sites

The company was initially granted permission to set up a attraction between

St John's Beacon Radio City Tower (also known as St. John's Beacon) is a radio and observation tower in Liverpool, England, built in 1969 and opened by Queen Elizabeth II. It was designed by James A. Roberts Associates in Birmingham. It is 138 metres tall, and ...

and the

Liverpool Central Library Liverpool Central Library is the largest of the 22 libraries in Liverpool, England, situated in the centre of the city. History The library is located in several adjoining historic buildings on William Brown Street. Its first building was the ...

in 2020, but was scrapped following local opposition. In 2021, Taylor also announced his ambitions to search for new sites, including one in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, in three national parks in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and one south of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Although Taylor stated his preference for 8–10 sites in the UK, across key UK regions.

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

was stated at the time as being a leading contender for the company's next site and the first site outside Wales. Potential sites for Zip World in the Lake District and Manchester have been proposed following the company's purchase of a business with operations in those locations in 2022, bringing the company's site count to potentially seven. In July 2022, a local partnership for the

Lake District National Park The Lake District National Park is a national park in North West England that includes all of the central Lake District, though the town of Kendal, some coastal areas, and the Lakeland Peninsulas are outside the park boundary. The area was desi ...

, opened a survey over potential plans by Burlington Stone, proposing partnering with Zip World, for an "adventure tourism experience" at

Elterwater Elterwater is a village in the English Lake District and the county of Cumbria. The village lies half a mile (800 m) north-west of the lake of Elter Water, from which it derives its name. Both are situated in the valley of Great Langdale. E ...

quarry,

Langdale Great Langdale is a valley in the Lake District National Park in North West England, the epithet Great distinguishing it from the neighbouring valley of Little Langdale. Langdale is also the name of a valley in the Howgill Fells, elsewhere ...

, in the Lake District. 30,000 people signed an E-petition against the proposal.

References

{{reflist 2013 establishments in Wales Companies of Wales