From Wall Street to Wellness

Meet Harrison Hide, the former “finance bro” on a mission to bring a new type of wellness experience to the UK

How did your wellness journey begin?

“Towards the end of my time in New York, just before quitting my job, I was beginning to dabble in personal development and wellness just to maintain some balance in my life. I went to a couple of retreats in upstate New York. I’d be going to the gym a lot, ensuring I had structural morning routines, journaling, and so on. That’s how I slowly discovered the power of wellness.”

How did your travels speed up your wellness journey?

“When you’re constantly in the place that you live, you live in a bubble, and travelling really takes you out of that bubble. It was cool to have a different perspective and to clear my mind.

“In places I visited, including Bali and India, wellness is a huge part of people’s lives, so I took it up more as I went through my journey.”

How did the idea for the retreat come about?

“While travelling, I had in the back of my mind that if I did quit my job, I’m used to a certain lifestyle, so would need to get an income somehow.

“I think something like this is needed in the UK. We have a site in Norfolk, which is 17 acres. It’s quite a bit of land, so we’re planning to put eco cabins around the land areas for activities, event spaces, as well as obviously all the traditional spa facilities. We’re going to be innovative with our treatments.”

What will you be offering that sets you apart from existing retreats?

“A lot of retreats miss out because they either stick to ancient healings like yoga and meditation, or they just do the new technologies. We’re going to create a unique blend of both, which is important.

“I lived with monks while travelling and met with chakra healers in Bali. I’d love to invite those people over and do pop-ups where people can live with the monks in Norfolk for a week and learn their teachings.

“On the other side, we’re going to be implementing new technologies like hyperbaric oxygen chambers, and making them accessible to our clients.”

What do you want your clients to leave the stay with?

“Belief – whether that be in themselves, in the universe, in humanity – Ifeel belief is a core pillar for us. When you have lack of belief, I think that really is the start of demise with your health, your career, everything. If you don’t have belief, what’s the point?”

What’s next in the set-up stage?

“My brother, who is also my business partner, and I have a few advisors on board, and we have the site, but we’re working through architecture designs now. Once we have those ready, we can really start pushing forward. Right now, we’re in the concept development stage.”