Angels invest in growing adventure business
AN adventure tours business is looking forward to better times ahead having secured a significant investment from Angels Invest Wales’ investors.
Established in August 2018 by Claire Copeman and Jim Gaffney, Adventure Tours UK offers scheduled and tailor-made holidays of a lifetime in Wales.
The Denbighshire based duo take visitors hiking, trail running, mountain biking, and canoeing in unforgettable locations across north east Wales, Snowdonia and Anglesey.
Now angel investors John and Michaela McDonald will help to grow the business post Covid-19.
The pair - whose business interests include a property development company and a management consultancy business - said: “This is our first venture into the travel sector and we are really excited about the possibilities. The
Adventure Tours UK team have pulled together a quality offering to address a clear gap in the market, and we have every confidence in their ability to access new customers and scale up operations as we emerge from lockdown.”
Adventure Tours UK cofounder Claire Copeman said: “Nobody could have foreseen the huge impact that Covid-19 is having on the tourism sector but we remain absolutely focussed on our strategy to scale-up and come out stronger than ever before in 2021.
“The support of Angels Invest Wales and John and Michaela as our investors will have a huge impact; safeguarding and creating new jobs, funding crucial marketing activity post Covid and helping us to promote just how special our offer is to a global travel trade market as Wales reopens.”
Laura James-Mowbray,a regional manager for
Angels Invest Wales, added: “Completing this deal in the midst of the current Covid-19 crisis, which has had a significant impact on the travel industry, is testament to the strength and resilience of Adventure Tours UK’s business plan and the belief of the Investors in Claire and Jim as the co-founders.
“We’re sure they are going to do brilliantly now that it is safe for visitors to return to Wales.”
Established in 2017, Angels Invest Wales is Wales leading angel investment network and an integral part of Development Bank of Wales.