B Corporation is a non-profit network established in the USA with a mission to inspire responsible business practices. Launched in 2015, B Lab UK seeks to affect change in the UK economy by recognizing businesses with high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. The Wave in Bristol has just reached this mark, making it the first wave pool to receive this accreditation.  
 
“It’s been great to be on the B Corp journey with The Wave,” said Andy Hawkins, Co-Chair of the Bristol & Bath B Local network. “I was able to witness first-hand the passion, tenacity and authenticity with which they approached their B Corp Certification. They will be a hugely valued member of the Bristol & Bath Local B Corp community.” 
 
B Corps subscribe to a triple bottom line framework, which considers not only financial returns but also social and environmental outcomes. The certification recognizes the work The Wave has done to date and helps the team identify where they can continue to improve going forward.  
 
The Wave Founder, Nick Hounsfield said the surf park was headed in this direction from the beginning. 
 
“One of the first things we did early on in the journey to create The Wave was draft a Sustainability Policy,” said Nick. “Way back in 2012 we set down the blueprint for a business that would be based on Triple Bottom Line thinking, always looking to balance its impact on people, planet and profit. In 2015, we learnt about an organisation called B Corporation that was just taking off as a movement in the UK, and knew this could provide a framework to help support our vision of doing business differently.“ 

This announcement coincides with the release of The Wave’s latest Impact Report for 2023-2024, which outlines the wave pool’s ongoing efforts to provide access to water and waves for individuals of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities.

Over the past year, The Wave Bristol achieved several key milestones, including delivering 1,000 surfs through its Impact Programme and supporting 150 para surfers. The organization built and activated a solar array, enabling sunshine-powered waves, and ran four six-week surf therapy courses in collaboration with The Wave Project. Additionally, it hosted 90 children from London and Bristol for free surfing and workshops on World Ocean Day for Schools, and facilitated a five-week course for women from Bristol’s female Muslim community in partnership with Open Minds Active and Active Being Connect. The Wave also introduced a ‘Donate at the checkout’ option, raising over £4,000 for the Impact Programme, secured planning permission for lake lighting, and delivered a total of 133,000 hours of surfing.

CEO Hazel Geary said the accreditation fulfills one of their goals.

“We are proud of what we managed to achieve over the last year and the report is a chance to recognise this – as well as continue to learn and improve,” said Hazel. “So much of our impact is only made possible by collaboration. We are better together and are ever grateful for everyone on this journey with us. Becoming a B Corp was one of our top aims for 2024-25 and I’m absolutely delighted we can announce achieving this at the same time as issuing our latest impact report.” 

The Wave joins more than 2,000 other B Corps in the UK, around 120 of which are in Bristol, that have completed the rigorous process.