Tad
Tad started many (1991) making a range of environmentally friendly surf clothing - ages before people recycled and worried about global warming. You could say we were cutting edge. There was no other 'Organic Cotton' products on the market and the idea of Fair-Trade was still in it's inception. I learnt to print with water-based inks when people only used petrochemicals. I was a lawyer and sponsored by a local shop at the weekends I'd travel and promote. In December 1987 I died at sea! it was the biggest storm the country had seen turning Seven Oaks in Kent into "Two Oaks". I saw the big white light crawled into it's warmth, 2 hours one helicopter ride, an blue light and 3 degrees later, I found myself in hospital believing my danger had caused 4 lifeboat men to die. They were in fact in hospital drinking tea having missed the christening of the local coastguard's son.
Three months late I crawled out of an inverted VW Karmann beetle 20 feet below the road I had just exitied. I knew my life had been spared....for what I'm still not sure. Later I became a re-baptised Christian and flouting my Lawyer career track of the previous 7 years with two degrees under my belt I threw it all up to print tee shirts and sell boards. The first shop was a farm in Bristol then my friend house and in 1993 we opened with Jinx and Wibble a shop on Exmouth Harbour.
As the shop took off, we relocated to the other side of the road into a lovely old warehouse where we continued to live, run the shop and make clothes and bags and stuff, until one day, the dock owner decided to build a housing estate and knock everything down, so off we went to Exmouth town centre.
You can still find us in Exmouth, and our other shop is in Exeter on South Street. We don't really make clothes anymore but we'll do it again one day soon.
The clothing did well on a small scale and as we expanded pre internet I knew our limits. I nearly went bust in the year my dad died started again and although we ended up following the "boom" in surfing I never sold out. I rode a bike for 10 years owning no cars took minibuses of kids on cheap surf trips. Over the years my love of the water and the environment not only steered my business but my training. I have windsurf and kitesurf tickets, boat tickets and SUP tickets. I am a Lifeguard (trainer), a first aid Responder and am adding more coaching tickets this year. I love my voluntary work and have been priviliged to lifeguard the London , World Triathalons and have been selected to provide first aid and lifeguard cover at the Olympics.
I am planning a 300k paddle with my mates,I have competed in SUP comps and have taught more people to SUP than anyone in the UK. I've ridden the Severn bore and was fortunate to have been mentored by my good friend Adam Zervas -an ex British champ. I've ridden with Kai Lenny (world champ), Dave Parmenter, Tim Bill Simon Jay Mark Jon and all the SUP crew. I have met and chomped food with heroes such as Mark Richards, Wayne Lynch, Simon Anderson, Bob Mc Tavish and have been honored to share time with great shapers like John Purton and Spyder Murphy. I am humbled by some of the athletes I've met and most recently impressed by the love and respect Chris Bertish Ben Skinner and Tom Butler showed my children. Life is good and it needs to be -as life on land is hard.
I became a committed christian and shortly after that met and married my wife Mino -who is way more hard core than me as she actually has Gold medals. We have 4 beautiful children who are all fit and accomplishing great thing in their young lives. We all surf in different ways-it keeps us real!
photo: courtesy Matt Round
And Today...
Tidders has his fingers in many pies... Here's a few things we've got going on.
- Surf Life Saving - Tidders is qualified instructor for SLSGB and there will be developments on the Surf Life Saving front in the not too distant future... He volunteers at SLSGB Exmouth.
- Paddleboarding - We're all doing it! We are an active part and Tidders is a founding member of Devon Paddle Club
