What we do

We help outdoor places, projects and people actually work.

Land that could become something. Events that have to go right. Teams that aren't ready yet. Operations that need an honest look. Four ways in — find the one that sounds like your situation.

We work in a small number of areas where our own operational experience — and the right specialists from our network — genuinely add value. Everything below is something we have done, not something we have written down.

Develop a place or an operation

Landowners, estates, venues, operators and organisations creating or growing outdoor activity.

This usually starts with a question rather than a plan: could something happen here, and would it work? From there the work moves through feasibility and concept into operational design — where people arrive, how activity runs, what infrastructure and staffing it needs, and how the site stays safe on a busy day.

It also covers the unglamorous things that decide whether a venue survives its second season: documentation, systems, seasonal staffing, and the partnerships and specialist introductions that make development actually happen.

Explore venue & destination development →

Also relevant: Rural diversification · Operational systems

A busy outdoor activity venue in operation — boards laid out on the beach, event flags, equipment store and participants gathering by the water — A developed venue on an operating day. Infrastructure, equipment, staffing and participants all working at once — the actual test of a site.

Make an event or project work

Events, festivals, productions and unusual outdoor projects that have to go right first time.

Operational planning, safety management, water safety, staffing and delivery on the day — from first concept through to people on start lines. For new and existing festivals, it also covers integrating outdoor activity, water programming, woodland experiences and wellness into the event offer.

Where the work happens on camera, it extends to location finding, location management and water-safety support for film, television and commercial shoots.

Explore events & festivals →

Also relevant: Water safety operations · Production support

Preparing yourself or a small team for an expedition or endurance challenge is a separate thing entirely — expedition & challenge preparation.

A managed session before it starts. Briefing, kit, water and supervision in place before anyone gets on the water.

Capability

Capable people are the whole operation.

Sites, systems and paperwork only work if the people on the ground understand why they exist. That's why leadership, workforce and safety work sits alongside the venue and event work rather than separate from it.

Make people and teams more capable

Organisations that need better-trained, better-prepared and more confident people.

Leadership and workforce development, lifeguard and water-team training, mentoring for early-career practitioners, and guidance through qualifications and awarding-body pathways.

The approach is not classroom-led. Capability is built in live operations, with real responsibility, alongside people who have run the places and events being taught — which is also how outdoor learning is delivered for schools and youth groups.

Explore leadership & workforce →

Also relevant: Qualifications & safety systems · Schools & education

Looking for one-to-one or small-group coaching for yourself rather than for an organisation? That's private coaching.

Understand what's really happening

Organisations already operating who want an experienced, independent view.

Operational review, safety management systems, risk assessment frameworks and the documentation, SOPs and emergency procedures that hold delivery together — assessed by someone who has had to use them on a live site.

It also includes benchmarking against established outdoor venues and Secret Swimmer reviews: independent visits that walk your customer journey the way an experienced practitioner would, and report what they actually found.

Explore Secret Swimmer reviews →

Also relevant: Safety systems & documentation · Risk awareness

Not all of it happens on water. Woodland, land-based and nature-led delivery runs through the same operational thinking.

Something more complicated?

Some projects don't fit a category.

That is usually the point at which a founder-led model helps. Understand the problem first. Work out what expertise it actually needs. Do the parts that sit within ours — and bring in trusted specialists, operators, governing bodies and sector contacts for the rest.

Years of working alongside operators, venues, productions, educators and specialists across the UK and beyond have built relationships that can't be bought. When a project needs the right person in the right place, we usually already know them.

The SHACADEMY network →All areas of expertise →

Proof

Built from real projects, not theory.

Buckland Park Lake
A former sand quarry developed into a working outdoor activity venue.
The SHAC
An outdoor operation built from the water up, and the systems behind it.
Birtley House Estate
Founder-led venue and operational development on a private estate.
River Wey & River Mole
Making a waterway the venue, on National Trust land and water.
GLAGLA UK
A cold-water paddle event conceived, founded and operated from scratch.
Mustang Survival
Product field testing and creative collaboration with an outdoor brand.

See projects & experience →

Not sure where you fit?

Most projects don't begin with a brief.

Tell us what you're trying to achieve and we'll help work out the right way forward — including whether the answer is us at all.

Start Organisation Discovery How Discovery works

Takes about two minutes. Every discovery is personally read by founder Scott ‘Skip’ Innes.