Our Story
Outlook was started in 2001 by Matt Wells and Rhys Davies, their professional and personal lives had already taken them on their own expeditions across the world and these had left their mark in more ways than one; they inspired the business they built. The idea was a simple one, to make it possible for every young person to experience an overseas expedition. Through this experience they could realise their potential and develop skills, drive and ambition that would impact on the rest of their lives.
Over the last 10 years Outlook had grown on success and providing quality. The growth has not been accidental, our size was important to be able to offer our customers the scope in destination choice and the Tailor-Made experience. Yet we still continue to provide the service and ethos of a smaller company. How? By employing more quality staff, investing in resources and most importantly listening to and acting on our customers needs.
The pig shed story and some highlights of the last 10 years!
2001 - A story passed down the ages from staff member to staff member, Outlook's beginnings in a converted pig shed has become the stuff of legends. Outlook Expeditions was launched in 2001 just outside Bangor by Matt Wells and Rhys Davies, in the good old days there was only one computer!
2003 - A momentous year in Outlook's history; we moved to a very pink Outlook Development Centre (ODC) in Deiniolen, near Llanberis. The centre enabled us to not only run residential UK based courses and store all of our equipment but also meant that our growing staff force were comfortably accommodated in offices. 2003 saw Outlook's staff numbers move into double figures!
2006/07 - 2006 saw us grow up that little bit more when we merged with Freewill Outdoor Pursuits to form Outlook Scotland. Our Scottish office is based in Crieff amongst the spectacular scenery of Perthshire. Outlook Community, our not-for-profit-organisation, was established in 2007 and has facilitated some very successful local community based personal development projects.
2007 was also the beginning of our journey towards becoming a more environmentally aware company with our support of the 1% for the Planet campaign. For two years we donated 1% of our annual turnover to grassroots environmental projects worldwide.
2008 - In 2008 we became the first CarbonNeutral® youth expedition provider. Every tonne of carbon produced by us is counter-balanced with carefully selected "climate friendly" projects sourced by The CarbonNeutral Company.
2009 - 2009 was a big year for Outlook. This was the year that saw us recognised as the largest independent youth expedition provider in the UK. We received a significant investment from Finance Wales to fund our sustainable growth. We were one of the first organisations of our kind to be certified as an Approved Activity Provider for the Duke of Edinburgh's Award and we were awarded with the Learning Outside the Classroom quality badge.
The biggest event of 2009 was our relocation to new offices in Parc Menai, Bangor - right on the edge of the Menai Straits. With significantly more staff, we were now literally bursting at the seams and the move was inevitable. You know its time to move when cows in the car park are a regular occurrence!
Outlook made the hard decision to stop facilitating UK adventure courses. As more and more schools chose to work with Outlook, we realised to continue providing the highest quality overseas expeditions and build up programmes, they needed our full attention.
2010 - Present In 2010 we were externally validated by the Young Explorers Trust as compliant to British Safety Standard 8848. Our full time staff exceeded 50!
In 2011 we announced that we were expanding. An agreement was reached with Jagged Globe that Outlook Expeditions would take on their provision of youth/school expeditions and the brand Adventureworks Ltd would cease to operate. This was an attractive agreement because Jagged Globe and their youth expedition business, Adventureworks, share a lot of the values and the ethos of Outlook Expeditions. The companies are well matched, and just like Outlook, Adventureworks had a reputation for strong technical skills and expertise. Again like us they built a strong brand and loyal customer base by offering a high quality product and service. This agreement and long term partnership combined unrivalled knowledge, experience and expertise, and formed, in Outlook Expeditions, the most credible, youth expedition company in the UK.
To date, we have sent more than 7000 young people on expedition to destinations across the globe and as qualified expedition specialists will continue to set the standards for the expedition industry.
