In 2015, Nick Warman and Sam Culshaw – two skateboarding lifers – decided to combine their intricate knowledge of the skate industry and create their very own skate shop, Supereight. Stepping away from the wholesale and distribution side of the skate industry and placing themselves on the other side of the sales counter, no longer selling products to shops and instead selling to skaters themselves. When 2025 arrived and the realisation that Supereight has been running for ten years struck, not only did it make us realise how quickly time flies, but it also resulted in an immediate nostalgic trip, taking us all back through the history of the shop and our personal times here.
Once we had all finished reminiscing, the idea of putting on an exhibition in conjunction with Skate Nottingham during their Skateboarding in the City Festival was raised, and, well, that’s exactly what we did! We had 138 people turn up and check out the gallery during the three-day festival, which is super impressive considering the city was absolutely popping off with various skate jams, talks, walks and other insightful exhibitions celebrating Nottingham’s rich history of skateboarding.
Nostalgia is a funny thing; it makes you feel as though you are looking back on potentially the best times of your life, and whilst putting this exhibition together, it has definitely felt that way. That being said, in some ways it still feels like we are at the beginning of a much longer, radder journey that we are all so lucky to be a part of. There is so much more to come from Supereight, and we would be honoured if you joined us on our continuous voyage of skateboarding celebration. Thank you to everyone who popped their head into the exhibition that weekend, and if you missed it, don’t worry, here is the full exhibition in blog form!
Nick & Sam Pre-Supereight
As mentioned above, Nick and Sam are skateboarding lifers. Just in case you didn’t believe me, here is some solid evidence!
Co-founder Nick Warman in conversation with Tom Bailey:
Why did you get into skating?
I grew up in Bahrain in the Middle East – Back to the Future made its way via a fuzzy pirate Beta Max copy to my eyes in 1989. Michael Fox got a lot of kids into skating through that movie. My friends and I were no different and by the winter of ’89 every kid in my school year skated. By 1991, everyone except me had quit. I was obsessed and skated outside my house every day until I left Bahrain at 16.
What do you love about skating?
Perversely, I love the battle. Starting off nowhere near a trick and then going at it again and again, until something you thought you would never be able to do has become reality. I love the freedom of cruising around; I love the constant evolution and phases of my skating. I started off in the late 80s on launch ramps, moved into pressure flips in the early nineties, skated mini ramps, then got into more street when I got to Nottingham, then on to Lady Bay mini ramp. When Arnold Bowl was built, I got heavily into bowls and parks and now I’m super into curb skating. Each phase brings new experiences (and slams) and keeps skating fresh.
I particularly love skating because it’s all on you. No team mates to blame when you fail. No one to blame when you hurt yourself. It’s all on you, the failures and the successes. Do what you want and have fun.
What are some key achievements whilst skating leading up to your New Bloods?
Not much skating-wise honestly. I’m not a natural skateboarder and have to work hard at what I do. Repetition is key! Haha! At the time of my New Blood, I was already making inroads into the skate industry. I’d been working at the Rollersnakes shop on St James Street, running the Icon team. I’d finished the first Icon vid and was working on the Equilibrium vid for them. I’d just finished a combined sciences degree at Nottingham Trent and Adio footwear had just taken me on to build their skate team and work as a sales agent for the brand, introducing it to all the stores in England and Wales. Those shoes I’m wearing in that New Blood are Adio Freemonts – the first pair I was ever given. I was beyond stoked.
Leo Sharp was up to take pics of Craig Smedley for his Haunts, and he shot this pic whilst I was throwing myself at that pile of bricks at the frog paddling pool in the Meadows. I never expected it to end up in the mag, but I was stoked!
Supereight Over the Years
Since Supereight began, we have been based in three different locations across Nottingham. Our first location was on Radcliffe Road, behind the bins of an Indian restaurant with barely enough room to fit both humans and stock, but we made it work. As Supereight grew, we moved into a bigger location on Meadow Lane, which came with a beautiful view of the city, room for a tiny mini ramp and even our very own parking spaces, lol. Nowadays, we are based in Radcliffe-on-Trent, with a much larger warehouse, plenty of space for stock, a bigger mini ramp and even space for a few curbs and a manual pad.
Our Staff
We are super proud to have an entire workforce that is part of the local skate scene. Everything that goes on behind the scenes at Supereight has been handled by someone who loves looking at the hardware and shoes just as much as you, lovely people, who place the orders on our website.
Supereight Mini Ramp
Having bosses who skate has massive perks. Most business owners would instantly look at the negatives of having a mini ramp in the warehouse. A waste of storage space, some would say, too expensive to make, others might add, and more distracting than basically anything else on earth to a workforce full of skaters. Here at Supereight, we have had two. 🙂
Not only do we all get to skate the mini ramp, but we have also had the likes of the Heathen and DC team come and tear it up, too. Always a lovely humbling experience watching someone skate your ramp for the first time better than you ever will…
Supereight Team
The beauty of having an online skate shop and having a team from all over. We have a solid core of Nottingham homies on the team, of course, but we also have riders based in Ireland, London and Yorkshire. The only downside is not being able to skate together all the time, although it only makes it even better when we do all link up!
Interviews
We’ve been lucky enough to ask some seriously cool people some questions, Josh Kalis, P-Rod, Don Pendleton, Ed Templeton, John Dilo and Don Brown, to name a few more than a few. Here are some of our favourite answers.
The Ed Templeton Interview
From the 2021 Ed Templeton interview with Tom Bailey:
Artistically, what are your favourite brands out at the moment?
“I don’t know if I ever think of any brands as my favorite. Are you talking
about skateboard brands or is this just like a Coke versus Pepsi question? I don’t drink either of those. I think you mean skate brands. I always laugh at Grimple Stix, Frank Gerwer is great…”Is there anything you really regret in regards to running Toy Machine? On the other hand, what would you say is your proudest moment?
“There are always minor regrets when you’ve done something for this long but fuck I started Toy in ‘93 & I’m still doing it today so I can’t complain, …all the bad stuff gets forgotten & all the good stuff gets formed into a fond memory of good times… no single one shines above the – it all just becomes a golden glow of joy. ..”
“It all just becomes a golden glow of joy”Did you expect your early graphics/characters to become so loved by skaters?
“Never. I still get pretty stoked when I see someone with a tattoo of one of my skateboard graphics. What an honor that someone enjoyed a piece of my art so much that they wanted it stabbed into their skin for life. That’s pretty cool. I never expected that at all. I truly thought my first graphics would be laughed at & was very self-conscious…”
The TJ Rogers Interview
From the 2025 TJ Rogers interview with Tom Bailey:
What would you say is your most slept on video part?
“Not sure to be honest.. I try not to pay attention to all that. I just love skating & filming edits…”
Which trick has been the biggest battle for you?
“There’s been a bunch over the years… one that sticks out recently though is the backside noseblunt up the UCLA upledge. Tried it probably 4-5 years anytime I went to the spot & could never get to the top… didn’t get it the way I wanted personally, but still stoked I got it!”
You seem to be a super positive guy. How do you maintain that?
“Appreciate that. I try not to dwell on things I can’t control & surround myself with people who not only inspire but motivate me…”
Our Projects
We have always been incredibly keen to ensure we are part of not only the local community, but also the skate community as a whole. Sponsoring local Skate Nottingham events such as the Bio City Jam in 2019, helping design skateparks such as the newest version of Lady Bay and, of course, bringing over the DC and Supereight skate teams to open the Tram Line Spot in 2023. Not only that, in 2023, we decided to take three of our shop riders to compete in the Vans Shop Riot, walking away with a victory in the UK and then finishing second in the European Finals. We are super proud of all these accomplishments and hope there are many more to come!
We hope you enjoyed our virtual gallery tour! As you can see, we are super proud of what we have all achieved here at Supereight over the past ten years. Here’s to many more!
Big shout-out to Joe Walchester for putting this gallery together, too. Not only were most of the photos shot by him, but he also curated the whole thing himself. What a legend.
Please exit through the Gift Shop.