Discovery Surf School
Surfing business makes a big splash with their customers by offering easy-to-use payment choices.
Discovery Surf School gets on board by offering clients flexible Payment Links+ capabilities from Worldpay, now Global Payments
In business for nearly a quarter century, Discovery Surf School in South Devon, England, is a family-run business that is dedicated to providing top-quality surf and stand-up paddleboard (SUP) coaching at two locations – the neighboring Bigbury-on-Sea and Bantham beaches.
Started in 2002 by Martin Connolly and operated with his wife, Annika, Discovery Surf School takes pride in delivering lessons in an environment that is safe, fun and suitable for all ages and abilities. With their emphasis on providing their customers with the best experiences possible, Discovery is regarded as one of the top surf schools in the United Kingdom.
“We're really proud of the growth of our business, as we’re now one of the largest surf schools in the entire country,” says Annika. “Giving customers what they want and doing it well has always been the fundamental core of our operation.
"Today, we have an eclectic group of students. We teach locals, we instruct lots of families, we teach tourists and vacationers and we also run surf clubs for kids and adults. Additionally, we work with colleges, scout groups, rugby tour groups – just loads of different types of organizations that all come surfing with us.”
Business challenges
As a small business, Annika notes that Discovery Surf School faces challenges comparable to other similarly-sized entities.
“We’ve been facing price increases everywhere over the last few years, whether it’s rent, equipment, surfboards, wetsuits – you name it. But, as a growing business, you've just got to balance everything, keep moving forward and find a way to make things work.”
According to Annika, another issue facing Discovery was the need to find a solution that would allow them to take payments in advance of lessons at the point when bookings occur. Discovery Surf School naturally turned to Worldpay, their payments partner, for help in that area.
Decade-long Worldpay customer
“We’ve been a Worldpay customer now for over a decade,” discloses Annika, “and from the beginning of our relationship we’ve used their cost-effective in-store and mobile card machines – they’ve been great.
"We’ve also started using their flexible Payment Links+ product to collect payments from our customers ahead of when they are coming to visit us, and to also help us better manage our day-to-day operations.”
Payment Links+
Payment Links+ is an easy-to-use functionality that provides small merchants with a faster, simpler way to sell their goods and services and process payments wherever their customers are – online, on social media or in person.
With Payment Links+, merchants can create secure checkout links and share them through the channels they already use, including social platforms, email, messaging apps and face-to-face interactions. With no integration required, Payment Links+ can help small businesses start selling quickly and affordably without building a full e-commerce site or investing in additional hardware.
“With Worldpay’s Payment Links+ capabilities, it makes it straightforward for our customers to pay via a number of different ways, including Apple Pay and Google Pay,” Annika shares. “And the feedback we’ve received from our clients is that they really appreciate how much easier it is now for them to pay for a surfing or paddleboard lesson.
“We use Payment Links+ every day,” she continues, “and it's been really transformative for our business in terms of improved cash flow. We also no longer have to manually chase customers for payments, and it's just made everything more time efficient for us.”
Why Worldpay
As a longtime Worldpay customer, Annika appreciates the overall support she routinely receives.
“Whenever I have a query, it's always answered by Worldpay in a really timely fashion,” she explains. “And what I really like is just how involved they are with our business, how they understand our needs and have recommended things to us that we wouldn't necessarily even think about. We've had a really positive experience working with Worldpay.”
* NOTE: Payment Links+ is only available in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
At a glance
Objective
Augment existing card machines with various flexible payment options for customers.
Worldpay solutions
SMB Payments Capabilities; Card Payment Terminals; Payment Links+
Impact
- Easy-to-use checkout link choices
- Enhanced cash flow
- Improved day-to-day operations
“Whenever I have a query, it's always answered by Worldpay in a really timely fashion.”Annika Connolly, Director, Discovery Surf School
Note: Not all products, solutions or capabilities mentioned in our client stories are available in all geographic regions. Please consult your relationship manager or customer care (existing customers) or sales (prospects) for more information.
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