Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Founder, Daniel Walton OLPRO OLPRO is the UK’s first B Corp accredited camping brand – turning single-use plastic bottles into tents so you can enjoy luxury camping holidays from the outback of Australia to the deserts or Morroco, guilt-free. I sat down with its Founder, Daniel Walton, to learn about his passion for the outdoors, sustainability, virtual reality, technology, and the future of luxury camping vacations. Born in Sheffield on the edge of the Peak District, Daniel was perhaps destined to work in adventure travel– with his uncle also owning a boutique skiing and climbing shop, Don Morrisons. “My brother and I used to spend a lot of our time climbing after school and camping at weekends in the Peak District – that was my real first exposure to outdoor life,” says Daniel. The Peak District getty Summer holidays were often spent on rural camping holidays around the UK, from the moors and valleys of the Yorkshire Dales to the coastal shores of Scotland. “My mum would always warn us not to drink the water because we were so far away – but we’d only be about an hour from Sheffield!” Daniel chuckles. MORE FOR YOU House Of The Dragon Season 2 Episode 1 Recap And Review Blood And Cheese Heat Wave Threatens More Than 100 Million With Dangerously High Temperatures This Week—Here’s Where How The Market For Klay Thompson Could Be All Over The Place “I remember going to a place called Bethesda on the edge of Snowdonia and spending the entire week kayaking and hiking out in the wild. It was a complete mental detox – with zero technology,” adds Daniel. Snowdonia National Park getty After studying Criminology at the University of Wales, Daniel cut his teeth at lastminute.com. “It was right at the beginning of the dot com boom. Because I knew my way around a computer, they made me their Customer Services Manager really early on. I was massively unqualified, but they gave me that opportunity, and I got to sit in board meetings with really innovative leaders dreaming of people booking holidays on their mobile phones,” says Daniel. “This foresight to see that the travel industry was moving towards technology was amazing, and that inspiration and innovation is what drove the rest of my career, thinking not just about what we can do today, but what we can do tomorrow,” Daniel adds. After leaving lastminute.com, Daniel spent time at Towsure, Outdoor Revolution, and Maypole but soon discovered there wasn’t much innovation in camping. Tuscany landscape at sunrise with low fog. getty “Like most self-employed people who run companies, I don’t think I was a great employee. I was probably quite troublesome because I always wanted to do things differently. I was accused of doodling a lot – and now I can doodle all I want!” Daniel chuckles. So Daniel then set up OLPRO, selling outdoor leisure products and aiming to stand out through innovation and sustainability. “When you go camping, there are usually certain points you have to peg your tent – and annoyingly, it always seems to be where the rocky ground is,” says Daniel. So OLPRO added a band to the bottom of all its tents and awnings, so you can peg it anywhere you’d like to – securing it more easily, with greater freedom over your surroundings. Daniel and his family camping OLPRO “The key thing for us is sustainability. A lot of people have a view of camping with tents being left behind and rubbish everywhere – not being particularly great for the environment, so we want to work really hard on that,” says Daniel. Last year, OLPRO became the first UK camping brand to become B Corp accredited and has now launched a range of tents and campervan awnings made from its new recyclable OLTECH RE-PRO technology. “With this new OLTECH RE-PRO technology, we’re recycling single-use plastic bottles and turning them into tents!” says Daniel. “We’re also working with companies to loan out tents now. In many cases, we’d rather loan out a tent than sell one because we’d rather see that product reused. Every product that comes back to us is recycled and repurposed, so it’s all very cyclical”, Daniel adds. View from tent to the mountain getty Another critical area of sustainability innovation for OLPRO is spare parts. “Traditionally in camping, you don’t get spares for tents – you can try and fix them, but very often they just go straight in the bin. So with every product you buy from OLPRO, you get spare tent poles, air beams, and repair products,” says Daniel. OLPRO has also launched a second website, OLPRO Spares, where you can buy spares for any tent ever created by OLPRO. “So if we upgrade one of our tents to a newer model, we’ll keep the spares for the old versions as well, so travelers can keep them running. It’s really crucial for us because we want to prolong the life of our products as much as possible. And, when they eventually hit their lifespan, we have ways to recycle and repurpose them,” says Daniel. The beautiful scenery of a tent in a pine tree forest at Pang Oung, Mae Hong Son province, Thailand. getty As Daniel looks ahead to the future of OLPRO, he says his two key focuses are van life and virtual reality. “There’s been a huge explosion in van life – people selling their homes, quitting the 9 to 5, and traveling around the world. We’re looking at developing our products to make that easier and help make it a more comfortable lifestyle for the discerning traveler,” says Daniel. On the virtual reality side, OLPRO currently has augmented reality links on all its products, where you can see the product on your phone and get a feel for the space. “The next stage for us is building the ability for customers to actually step into that space through virtual reality – seeing your tent, in your environment, with your belongings inside it,” says Daniel. Motorhome at free camp site with milky way sky in New Zealand. getty I ask Daniel how he sees the growth of luxury camping. “There are more and more people going camping who want a more luxurious experience or to experience new places without missing out on the luxuries of home. With everything we do within our tents, we’re making sure that our tents have more features to make life easier while away — this included making the Home tent, which had a built-in toilet tent, kitchen area for food prep, porch for shoes, and bikes and spacious living area,” says Daniel. “We even included real curtains and a large sleeping area for a bigger air bed. It’s not just about physical space but making sure the space is the right space to be used,” concludes Daniel. Follow me on LinkedIn. Lewis Nunn Following Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions
Subscribe
Login
0 Comments
