In this episode of ‘We Built This Business’ we talk with Joel Campbell from Cove Group.
Joel shares the journey of how he built the Cove Group, a multifaceted business with ventures in heritage tourism, real estate, and entrepreneur mentorship.
Starting from an 11-year-old selling keyrings at Glastonbury to turning decommissioned prisons into tourist attractions, Joel’s story is one of resilience, creativity, and unrelenting entrepreneurial spirit.
From founding a wellness tech company that ended in a painful exit to creating immersive visitor experiences inside former prisons, Joel unpacks the lessons he’s learned, the systems he’s built, and how he leverages his failures to support other entrepreneurs.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Joel’s childhood entrepreneurial spark that started at Glastonbury Festival
• The founding and painful collapse of his first wellness tech company
• How a failed prison bid led to the launch of a successful attraction business
• The three pillars of the Cove Group: business operations, investment, and entrepreneur support
• Turning historical prisons into unique, multi-use attractions with escape rooms, ghost tours, and overnight stays
• Why having a shareholders agreement and clear business plans matters (and when it doesn’t)
PODCAST INTRODUCTION
Daniel Osullivan invites business owners and industry experts onto the We Built This Business Podcast to discuss how they have built their business.
We discuss how they started, their business challenges, successes, failures and everything in between.
Running a business is hard work so why not learn from business owners who are currently building or who have built a business.
PODCAST SPONSOR
Team Building Experiences are a nationwide team building company who are experts in Keeping Things Fun for companies.
With a wide range of mobile events such as Game Shows, Sports Days, Crystal Challenge and more, there is something for every company.
Visit https://bit.ly/tbe-pod and quote PODCAST15 to receive 15% off your next team building event.
VALUABLE RESOURCES
Guest Website - https://www.covegroup.co.uk/
Host Website – https://beacons.ai/wbtb
EPISODES TO CHECK OUT NEXT
Episode 4 - How I Built a £6 Million Revenue Print andPromotional Business by The Age of 24 - Taylor Tassie
Episode 5 - How I Built a Global Tech Events Business and Thrived in the Pandemic - Johnny Edser
Episode 6 - How I Built a Digital Marketing Business and How I Exited - Alex Minchin
ABOUT THE HOST
Daniel Osullivan is the CEO of The Experience Specialists Group we have brands in the events, entertainment and media industries including Red Cactus Events, Team Building Experiences, Shizzoo.co, Football Zorbing UK, Nel Events and X Event Solutions.
CONNECT & CONTACT
Daniel Osullivan
Daniel Osullivan Linkedin Page
Email: daniel@webuiltthisbusiness.co.uk
We Built This Business