What do you do with a huge piece of land, access to tonnes of water and a passion for surfing? Build the world’s first inland surf lagoon of course!

Introducing, Adventure Parc Snowdonia’s MD, Andy Ainscough. We get the lowdown on how he turned an idea (and a great free commodity!) into a world’s first with Surf Snowdonia and much more...

This week we finally get to make a recording at The Allbright in London in the company of the inspirational Dominique Afacan who, together with her literary ‘other half’, Helen Cathcart, has written Bolder, which shines a spotlight on the positive side of getting older including myth-busting interviews with the likes of Glastonbury founder, Michael Eavis and other inspirational characters, all over the age of 70.

Later living is a hot topic right now – what’s it like to age? Are we prepared as a nation? Are you ever really too old? We can all learn life lessons from people older, wiser and Bolder than ourselves, we just need to take the time to listen

Winning over the hearts of millions through its ‘Secret Life of the Zoo’ television series, Chester Zoo is believed to be, (and for the sake of this podcast – it definitely is!) the best in Britain. We meet the man who is taking the award-winning tourist attraction to the next level with record-breaking turnover and two million visitors in just one year. Welcome Chief Operating Officer, Jamie Christan to The Lowdown…

And we’re back! We kick off series two in Catalonia… well, Manchester’s very own version, as we get The Lowdown from Sandra Martorell, Group Director of Tast. With a CV that reads like something from the news section of The Caterer, Sandra has put a new spin on ‘Business Travel’. We chat through everything from her incredible career, opening the many tiers of Tast with the support of some of Manchester’s footballing elite, the Human Towers of Catalonia (yep, it’s a thing) and of course, Manchester.

This month we got the lowdown on CEO of Net World Sports, Alex Lovén. His entrepreneurial flair started when he was just 13 years old, after buying a cricket bat on eBay for £60 and emailing the wholesaler to discover they cost just £6 to make. A few years later and now Net World Sports is ranked as one of the UK’s fastest growing businesses – coming in at 45th place overall and 2nd in Wales. Interested? You should be...

We chat to the man behind The Ice Cream Farm, Jonathan Fell. The Cheshire attraction is the most visited free to enter tourist attraction of its kind, as well as home to the world’s largest ice cream shop, serving over 50 award-winning flavours… basically the dream.

From a handful of wind-surf stores to running one of The Sunday Times’ 100 Best Companies to work for, we learn about Ed Reeves’ fascinating journey to launch renowned telephone answering service, Moneypenny (and yes, Bond gets a mention).

This episode we’re at The Creameries, talking diversification, motherhood, work ethic and fennel (obviously) with Manchester’s favourite restaurant consultant and hospitality specialist, Lucy Noone-Blake.

From humble beginnings in Chester’s Grosvenor Park to a pioneering library, theatre, cinema, community hub and a million visitors in their first year (not forgetting some very special royal guests), we chat with Alex Clifton, Storyhouse’s Artistic Director on the highs and lows of opening a truly revolutionary cultural centre.

He arrived in a white van and left emotionally lighter - Gary Usher talks openly about his insane schedule, filming for a forthcoming documentary and how a glimpse at the limelight has left him questioning how tough he really is.