API_Indoor Play:Layout 1 17/04/2009 12:09 Page 18
ASSOCIATION OF PLAY INDUSTRIES
significant ‘take off’ period in the industry
as noticeably being 6 years ago when it
became evident that a new breed of
operator started to emerge.
The main problem for people coming
into the market in the past was that they
were faced with landlords who didn’t take
them seriously and planner’s who didn’t
want a change of use application, but
things are now changing. Play providers
are beginning to move away from
industrial parks to become the saviour of
landlords that own failed glitzy out-of-
town nightclubs. In the current economic
climate it is increasingly difficult for new
operators to raise finance for these types
of ventures, however, the operators
themselves have generally been finding
opportunities in the current economic
crisis with young families choosing to
spend their leisure pound closer to home.
However, as with all indoor play centres;
the biggest factor affecting the business
has remained since day 1- the great
British weather, as even the best centres
suffer when the sun comes out.
Present
Today, the industry is at a point of change
with some of the older business models
struggling to compete with the new breed
of operators, some with plans of rolling
out 20+ sites, who have raised the bar on
the quality of the product and service on
offer. New businesses have opened in
larger units on retail and leisure parks and
the rest of the industry has followed this
move. Even the new single site operators
are opening sites with a stronger safety
focus and a wider adult offering. The 60
percent of revenue that comes from
parties and catering operations are ‹
Robinson Managing Director of the Soft
Brick Company, API members identify an
increased size of ‘fit out’ during the
nineties going from a 4,000 sq ft to an
average request of 12,000 sq ft today.
Up until around the turn of the century,
the number of sites continued to steadily
increase up to around 700 independently
operated sites. Innovative design and
manufacturing company Angus Firth
Design’s Chris Damer identified the
18 API Directory 2009/10
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