Fylde coast hot tubs specialist makes a splash straight after launch

Former Highfield pupil Chris Smith, 22, had worked for five years as a chef on low wages, but when lockdown struck he used the down time to switch careers.

He began by selling air beds and powerwashers online but then began to help his grandad repair Intex inflatable hot tubs for Aldi.

Chris, from Westby, said: “I was doing it in my spare time to earn a bit of extra money and I started to get really good at it. I also repaired a few for friends and families too once I got the hang of things.

"Then I saw nobody in the UK was repairing inflatable hot tubs and I saw a huge gap in the market.”

So he launched ISPA Hot Tubs and repairs and started doing hot tub repairs and sales as a full time business.

He said: “I took a massive risk not knowing if this would work, but months down the line, I’ve now become the number one largest hot tub repair company with over 20,000 likes on my Facebook page.

"I sold more than 2,000 hot tubs in my first month and did over 400 repairs in that first month.

“I’ve got more than 40 hot tub repair companies nationwide coming to me for repairs.”

Chris who said he left school with few qualifications added: “I’m the living proof that if you don’t get anything in life, then don’t stop. You keep going, trying new things. Just because you don’t have any qualifications doesn’t mean you’re a failure.

“I’m now on course to creating my own brand of hot tubs and I have developed my own chemicals. I have got huge hot tub companies knocking on my door wanting my help.”

He now has customers across the UK, Europe, particularly in Germany, and in Australia, selling spare parts for hot tubs as well as the full inflatable items, reconditioned hot tubs and repairs.

Chris appeared in the Gazette when he was born as he was three months premature and spent his first year in hospital.

He said that people often made things worse when they tried to repair hot tubs themselves and he hoped by repairing and reconditioning it would cut waste going to landfill.