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As sauna fever sweeps the Channel Islands, Express decided to take a closer look at what it takes to run such a business – and why it isn't necessarily a case of 'no sweat'...
Cole McLean launched Sauna Society last summer, then 2024 saw the arrival of Blair Talibard and partner Alex Harris’s ‘Sandy Toes’.
Landscape gardener-by-trade Blair Talibard has never been to Finland, though it's "very much on my bucket list".
His journey into the sauna business has its roots in his young passion for sea swimming and surfing, which started when he was about 11 years old.
"Anything to do with the sea and the beach is right up my street," he noted – the wellbeing benefits are almost an added plus.
Sauna use has been linked to health benefits as far-ranging as reduced changes of fatal heart disease and dementia, as well as lower blood pressure, while research from Coventry University has suggested individuals can get the same cardiovascular benefits from sweating it out in a sauna as pumping iron in the gym.
Pictured: Blair Tailbard and his sauna - 'Sandy Toes'.
Noticing the “little movement” happening in the UK, in line with the rise of sea and cold water swimming, Blair started to ponder whether the idea could work in Jersey.
It was sitting, eating a Thai takeaway at La Frégate one day, that the vision finally crystallised.
“We sat down on the beach at West Park and it was a lightbulb moment – ‘this is the spot, this is the spot!’ It faces West, there's nobody doing anything here, it's in the heart of town, so there’s footfall,” he recalled.
That was around March last year – but there were “layers and layers of ladder rungs to climb” before the dream could become a reality.
One of them was sourcing the mobile sauna itself – a product whose price tag can stretch from the thousands to tens of thousands depending on the model. Thorough research was crucial, with Blair tapping into the UK trends for inspiration. He settled on a provider based in Bristol, whose product – and ethos – he felt he really believed in.
"He's been to Finland quite a few times and has actually just come back from there. He was building beautiful saunas to the Finnish 'recipe', if you like, or alchemy, making sure of details, that all the ventilation holes are in the right place, etc,"
"You can get cheap saunas, which aren't made with love, but this guy was doing it properly. I met him, I liked it, and I said, 'Well, okay, we're gonna go with you.' He built us a beautiful sauna."
The result was a piece and business steeped in sustainability: solar-panelled, wood-fired, and accompanied by sea water-powered plunges.
Pictured: Alex Harris and partner Blair Tailbard.
In any case, a petrol generator-run operation “making a horrible noise” would “not have the same ambience, so solar panels were definitely the way to go”, he joked.
After securing permission to operate in the autumn, the commissioned unit arrived in Jersey in December – and Blair was able to open his blissful hot box overlooking Elizabeth Castle at the turn of the New Year.
Of course, being beach-based does come with its limitations, as timings for the 50-minute sessions – which can be booked either for a private group of up to 8 or in a communal group of up to 6 – vary along with the tides.
“Our cut-off point is a 9.5-metre tide – any higher than that, and it's dangerous, as the tide would take us out.”
For solo entrepreneur Cole, getting the location right also proved a challenge – but for very different reasons.
A regular gym-goer, and fan of football and hockey, Cole became a regular sauna user, feeling it beneficial for recovery from injury – but also for his general wellbeing. As mentioned before, you can get the same cardiovascular benefits from sweating it out in the sauna as pumping iron in the gym.
"It has huge benefits on my physical and mental wellbeing... It's like a high, you feel so good,” he said.
And so, conscious of their cult-like status in the UK, he set about creating his own ‘Sauna Society’ locally with a stylish matte black unit which gives way to a traditional Finnish woodburner equipped with cold showers, a plunge tank, and a large glass window to frame each scenic coastal location it is stationed in.
The first panoramic view was St Ouen’s Bay, with the unit nestled in the car park south of the Watersplash.
"It's an ideal spot for it,” he said at the time. “It's an area for sea swimmers, surfers, people into their wellbeing."
As the chillier months arrived, he decided to look east instead, and offer people the chance to take an invigorating dip off St Catherine’s slip and reheat while looking out to sea.
But setting up business at the Breakwater brought with it red tape and problems that threatened to see Sauna Society run out of steam.
Pictured: Snowfall over the sauna in St. Catherine's Bay.
Just two weeks after the move, Cole was told that he had to move the sauna from the top of the slip as the land was Government-owned and it required planning permission if he wanted to stay for more than 28 days.
The sauna was subsequently moved next to the canoe club building, with Cole describing the relocation as "a bit of an extra walk for our sea dips but not the end of the world".
He submitted a planning application for this new location in mid-October.
However, it was refused because it required a heritage impact assessment, transport statement and visual impact assessment to be submitted.
He said he felt this was unnecessary as he is “only a trailer” and had plans to leave the site in March, which is when his lease with Ports of Jersey will expire, as he intends to move back out west for the summer months.
“A new submission will now need to be put forward which will no doubt cost me thousands for a space which I may only use for another few months,” he said.
The saga has raised a further question for the outdoor activity entrepreneur, who dips into everything from cleaning the equipment to shooting promotional content himself.
“Surely we should be supporting entrepreneurship and businesses in general and not shutting them down to some outdated box-ticking methods currently in place?
“The whole system needs a revamp, as this current one isn't fit for purpose, it slows down innovation and is keeping Jersey back in the dark ages.”
His innovation frustrations have been met by a huge swell of support, with social media posts and news articles generating hundreds of responses, ranging from other businesspeople working in different trades who feel similarly, keen saunagoers who want to see it thrive and other well-wishers.
In its short time in operation, Blair says Sandy Toes has also been extremely well-received – including by a big potential critic, his friend’s wife, who is half-Finnish.
“She loved it!” he laughed, almost half-relieved.
He said that he doesn’t see Cole’s Sauna Society as competition – in fact, they have both met, shaken hands and wished each other “good luck”.
Pictured: Cole McLean with his mobile sauna.
"I think there's enough room for two saunas on the island," Blair reflected.
In any case, both are united by a desire to offer something different, and "bring that sort of style, mindset, relaxation and culture to Jersey".
They could also both play a key role in the tourism industry's increasing efforts to encourage 'out of season' visitors to the island.
Although stationed opposite the Grand Hotel and near the Radisson, Blair says the vast majority of his clients have been local so far, though he has already has agreed to set up by the Ommaroo Hotel at Havre des Pas over half-term.
Another exciting partnership is with El Tico restaurant in St Ouen, where Sandy Toes popped up at the end of last month to mark the full moon.
Such mutually beneficial partnerships are something Blair is open to exploring further – "any run-off from our business that complements someone else's in the areas of bonus for them, and vice versa".
Another potential future focus will be working with finance firms on employee wellbeing initiatives.
Blair also thinks they could be good for team-building.
In Finland, where there are three million saunas, nearly one for every other person, business meetings can even be conducted in there, he enthused.
“There’s a saying along the lines of, ‘Once you go in the sauna, everyone is the same.’
“So you could be in a public sauna in Finland, chilling out and you could be next to a dustman or the CEO of Microsoft.
“There’s no levels of hierarchy. Everyone’s just gonna chill out.”
This article first appeared in the February edition of Connect Magazine, which you can read in full here...
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