About YPC – Our Story Since 1988
YPC grew from a business founded in Yorkshire in 1988. What began alongside Yorkshire Outdoor Activity Park has developed into a large online shopping website covering outdoor, sport, home, garden and everyday products.
YPC’s story began in Yorkshire in 1988, alongside what became Yorkshire Outdoor Activity Park. From the beginning, the business combined outdoor activities with supplying the equipment and products people needed to enjoy them.
Over the decades, the retail side grew from specialist outdoor and activity equipment into a much broader online shopping website, covering outdoor sport, indoor sport, home, garden, fitness, technology, pet products and everyday goods.
Yorkshire Outdoor Activity Park now has its own dedicated website for activities and bookings, while YPC continues as the online shopping side of the business.
Chapter One: The Beginning (1988–1995)
Where YPC began
YPC began life in 1988 as Yorkshire Paintball Centre in Hillam, North Yorkshire. Paintball was still a new sport in the UK, and those early days were simple: a small operation, basic equipment and a team determined to build something people would remember.
Nine months later, the business moved to its permanent home in a 100-acre woodland at Escrick, near York. That move gave YPC room to grow, laying the foundations for both the activity business and the retail side that would develop over the decades that followed.
Early visitors remember:
Those early years created the foundations of YPC: practical experience, specialist knowledge and more than three decades of working with outdoor products and activities.
Chapter Two: Growth, Innovation & Going Online (1992–2010)
Growing the business on the ground and online
The 1990s and 2000s were a period of rapid growth. The activity side of YPC became known nationally within paintball, while the business was also embracing new technology and developing the foundations of the online retail operation that would later become a major part of YPC.
In 1992, we hosted the War of the Roses paintball event with 360 players, setting a UK record that stood for more than 20 years. It was a milestone in the growth of the activity business and helped establish YPC within the emerging UK paintball community.
✔ 2004 — The World’s Largest Paintball Bridge
In 2004, we constructed a 300-foot multi-level paintball bridge, believed to be the biggest of its kind anywhere. It became one of the most recognisable features of Yorkshire Outdoor Activity Park and remains part of the shared history from which YPC developed.
✔ Early adoption of new technologies
Long before online shopping became part of everyday life, YPC was already looking to the internet. In 1995, we launched one of the early UK commercial websites, beginning a digital journey that would eventually transform the retail side of the business into the online shopping website YPC is today.
✔ Constant equipment upgrades
We invested in:
By the late 2000s, the business had grown far beyond its original beginnings. Decades of hands-on experience with equipment, customers and emerging technology had created the foundations for the next stage of both Yorkshire Outdoor Activity Park and YPC.
Chapter Three: Expanding Beyond Paintball (2010–2026)
The activity business grew — and so did our experience.
By the 2010s, the activity side of the business had grown far beyond paintball. New experiences were added for families, children, groups and corporate events, and Yorkshire Paintball Centre gradually developed into Yorkshire Outdoor Activity Park.
That expansion also broadened our practical experience with equipment, clothing, outdoor products, safety gear and the changing needs of customers. The activity park and retail business continued to grow alongside one another, each strengthening the knowledge behind the other.
In 2026, the two sides were given clearer identities online. Yorkshire Outdoor Activity Park moved to its own dedicated website for activities and bookings, while YPC became the dedicated shopping website.
Chapter Four: The Growth of YPC – From Specialist Retailer to Online Shop
From specialist equipment to a much broader online store
Retail had always existed alongside the activity business, and YPC had been online since 1995. Over time, customers who knew us through paintball and outdoor activities increasingly asked where they could buy the equipment we used, stocked and recommended.
That demand helped the retail side grow beyond specialist paintball and outdoor equipment. As online shopping developed, YPC expanded into more sports, hobbies, home products and everyday categories.
✔ The shop took off
What began as a specialist retail operation expanded rapidly online, category by category. YPC gradually developed from an outdoor and activity equipment shop into the much broader shopping website it is today.
A catalogue that kept expanding
YPC now covers a wide range of shopping departments, including:
- Outdoor sports
- Indoor sports
- Camping
- Clothing and accessories
- Computers and accessories
- Diet, fitness and exercise equipment
- Home and garden
- Outdoor technology
- Seasonal products
- Pet supplies
The catalogue continues to develop as new categories and product ranges are added.
✔ Experience shaped the shop
Decades of running outdoor activities gave us practical experience with specialist equipment, clothing, safety gear and products used in demanding real-world conditions.
That experience helped shape the retail side of YPC and continues to influence the product information and buying guides we publish today.
✔ YPC becomes the shopping identity
As the online shop expanded far beyond specialist outdoor and activity equipment, it needed a clearer identity of its own. YPC became the name of the shopping website, while Yorkshire Outdoor Activity Park remained the identity of the physical activity venue.
The two sides share the same roots and history, but now serve different purposes online. YPC focuses on products, shopping categories, product information and buying guides, while Yorkshire Outdoor Activity Park handles activities, events and bookings.
Today, ypc.co.uk is the dedicated shopping website, with activity customers directed to yorkshireoutdooractivitypark.co.uk.
Chapter Five: Two Clear Identities, One Shared History
Yorkshire Outdoor Activity Park
Yorkshire Outdoor Activity Park is the physical activity venue near York and Selby, offering instructor-led outdoor experiences for families, groups, schools, parties and corporate events.
Activities, events and bookings are now handled through its dedicated website at yorkshireoutdooractivitypark.co.uk.
YPC
YPC is the dedicated online shopping website, covering outdoor sport, indoor sport, camping, clothing and accessories, computers, fitness, home and garden, outdoor technology, seasonal products and pet supplies.
The shop provides product information and buying guides, with links to products offered by third-party retailers.
Shared roots, different roles.
Both YPC and Yorkshire Outdoor Activity Park grew from the same business founded in 1988, but each now has a clear purpose and its own dedicated website.
Meet the Owner: Andy Hollywood
Andy has been involved with the business since its earliest days, helping develop both the activity side and the retail operation that became YPC.
Over the years, he has:
- taken part in the world’s largest paintball game in Moscow
- hosted the UK record-setting War of the Roses event
- designed many of the activity park’s original game areas
- helped create the 300-foot paintball bridge
- expanded the original paintball centre into a multi-activity venue
- developed the retail side of the business and its online presence
- continued expanding YPC into new product categories and buying guides
His approach has always been practical: learn from real customers, keep improving what the business offers, and never stop looking for the next opportunity to make it better.
Today, Andy remains closely involved with YPC as it continues to develop as a dedicated online shopping website, while Yorkshire Outdoor Activity Park operates separately as the activity and events business.
Our Values – What Drives YPC Every Day
1. Practical Experience
YPC grew from decades of hands-on experience with outdoor activities, specialist equipment and real customers. That practical background still influences how we organise products and create useful shopping information.
2. Clear, Useful Information
A huge catalogue is only useful if people can find what they need. We aim to make categories, product information and buying guides straightforward, useful and easy to navigate.
3. Choice Without the Clutter
YPC covers a growing range of outdoor, sport, home and everyday products. Our job is to organise that choice sensibly so shoppers can move from a broad category to the products that interest them.
4. Keep Improving
The website never stands still. We continually add new categories, improve existing content, expand buying guides and develop better ways for visitors to explore the shop.
5. Know Where We Came From
YPC has changed enormously since 1988, but its history still matters. The experience gained through the original activity and retail business remains part of the character behind the YPC shopping website today.
The Future of YPC
YPC will continue to develop as a dedicated shopping website, building on a history that began in Yorkshire in 1988.
Our priorities for the years ahead are clear:
- expand into useful new product categories
- improve existing category and product information
- create more detailed buying guides
- make products easier to discover and compare
- continue improving site speed, navigation and the shopping experience
- use new technology to help visitors find relevant products and information more easily
The scale of YPC may have changed enormously since the early days, but the principle remains the same: keep improving, keep adapting and make it easier for customers to find what they need.
Yorkshire Outdoor Activity Park remains an important part of our history and continues independently at its own dedicated website, while YPC moves forward as the shopping side of the business.
How YPC Works
YPC will continue to develop as a dedicated shopping website, building on a history that began in Yorkshire in 1988.
Our priorities for the years ahead are clear:
- expand into useful new product categories
- improve existing category and product information
- create more detailed buying guides
- make products easier to discover and compare
- continue improving site speed, navigation and the shopping experience
- use new technology to help visitors find relevant products and information more easily
The scale of YPC may have changed enormously since the early days, but the principle remains the same: keep improving, keep adapting and make it easier for customers to find what they need.
Yorkshire Outdoor Activity Park remains an important part of our history and continues independently at its own dedicated website, while YPC moves forward as the shopping side of the business.
Browse the Shop
Read Buyers Guides
Visit Yorkshire Outdoor Activity Park