Green shoots...the recovery of Soft Play?

This article http://tinyurl.com/da48sz has led to more dialogue than any other post since the launch of http://www.shareandcompareplay.com in February 2009.

Upon first reading, it inspired and reminded us to 're-imagine' the role of Play and consider it's vast potential to change lives. With this potential comes significant responsibility for play operators and suppliers to create experiences that are challenging, rewarding, safe and enable evolutionary learning.

Unfortunately, the traditional cornerstone of Indoor Play areas (the soft play equipment) has offered little innovation in the thirty years since Rupert Oliver http://tinyurl.com/dbqtf7 designed the first Soft Play system.

However, things are beginning to change.

As the next generation of Play Operators seek to provide a more holistic play experience, they are demanding innovation and variety. As a result, new suppliers are establishing themselves and filling the gap that undoubtedly exists in this market that has been stagnant for far too long; these companies are providing the green shoots that we are beginning to see each day.

Last week, I met two inspirational figures that provide real hope for the future; people with the talent, knowledge and the commitment to re-build the Play industry. We are grateful for their support and their involvement because if this market is to fulfil it's potential, we will need the support of as many forward-thinking people as possible.

In the coming days, we will begin to share our thoughts, our manifesto and our plans to facilitate the most significant change in the way that indoor play areas are designed, built and funded for thirty years.

For now, just one final thought; are the play areas pictured the "Future of Indoor Play"?

Shareandcompareplay.com is the Indoor Soft Play Comparison website. You can subscribe and unsubscribe to e-mails with special offers and information releases by e-mailing us at contact@shareandcompareplay.com

Soft Play Centres: Getting Back to Basics

The current financial climate means that now is a good time to focus on the fundamentals of your business, this will help protect your Indoor Play Centre and prepare for better times ahead.

In the coming weeks I’ll look at several areas that I regularly tried to focus on, (not always successfully I hasten to add), when operating an Indoor Play Centre and try to provide examples of good practice that I have seen from other Soft Play Area operators.

Principle No 1: Look After Your Customers

1. Offer high standards of customer service. I tried to install in my staff the importance of a friendly smile, attention to detail and making the customer feel special on every visit. This doesn’t cost you any extra, but helps to make your customer feel appreciated. A great example of this can be seen at Parents Paradise Soft Play Centre in Watford, where the owners themselves takes a hands on approach to the business and show the staff how to provide great customer service. This has without doubt had a positive impact on the success of their business. Click on the following link to see an example of this in action.
(http://www.shareandcompareplay.com/dotnetnuke/Share/PlayTV/tabid/77/Default.aspx)

2. Provide excellent value for money. This doesn’t necessarily mean offering the cheapest service, but a service that makes the customer feel as though they have got great value from their visit. Offering special promotions during quieter periods can be a very effective way to achieve this and help to increase your revenues at the same time. An Indoor Play operator in Birmingham, ran a free entry weekday admission membership scheme for the summer holidays, and saw his overall takings increase by 30% compared to the same period the year before.

3. Acknowledge and reward your loyal customers. It is far easier to generate repeat business, rather then attract new business, and your regular customers are critical to the success of your Soft Play Area. We operated a CRM system that held a database of over 1000 customers, and used it to reward the most loyal 10% of customers, through regular text messages and emails. The results showed that this generated additional repeat visits for us, and helped to reduce the number of quiet periods each week in our Soft Play Area. There are a variety of cost effective systems available that will help you look after your loyal customers, so be sure to do your research and find the most suitable for your business.

Next week I’ll consider the costs involved in running an Indoor Play Centre, and look at some simple principles to ensure they remain at a manageable level to help your Soft Play Area achieve success.

The play inspector calls.....part 6

There are some advantages to working from home. There is also a downside! The office is always but a few steps away and both business telephone line and computer work on regardless. Finding a balance between home life and work commitments can be a stiff test. Fortunately I seem to get it right most of the time. At least that is my story but I think Veronica would concur. Hope so!

Inspection jobs started up immediately after Easter. So close in fact that the first one in Keighley needed to be combined with saying goodbye to family at Manchester Airport. Convenient geographically at least.

Wednesday: Post installation inspection. A large new extension to an existing and clearly very popular play centre. Very good to see business success leading to an expansion of a facility especially during this severe economic downturn. And a new team leader appointment seemingly working so well there. The owner seemed very pleased and certainly she appeared to me to have the right range of organisational and team management skills during our brief encounter. So very important staffing and staff management. Now that the design, manufacture and installation of these indoor play facilities has markedly improved over the last 20 years their safety more and more depends upon the operational systems in place and how well they are applied. And that comes down to staff and their management. Get that right and everything else falls into place.

Thursday: Today I’m heading for a Sure Start children’s centre in Greater Manchester. And quite the smallest multi-level indoor play frame I have ever inspected! Tucked into an alcove in a community play room it almost resembled a rather deep bookcase! Certainly it tested my own climbing capabilities. Must lose weight! Unknown supplier and an interesting use of perforated plastic panelling instead of mesh netting. Some repairs and maintenance needed and these were identified and photographed for my Report.

Monday: The first of two trips this week to Ireland. That means a very early start to get to East Midland Airport on time for the BMI Baby morning flight to Belfast International. But it doesn't stop there for the job is almost on the Donegal coast way over to the west. Breathtakingly beautiful journey along generally quiet roads and the drive through the Glenveagh National Park was stunning, a wilderness landscape so remote and so hauntingly beautiful. New play centre located in a health club that is itself located within an impressive hotel. Already in use whilst I was there and a small child found my clipboard and Biro whilst I was inspecting a horizontal roller squeeze and when I got back to it to make notes it had been totally scribbled upon! Occupational hazard - force a smile and press on!

Wednesday: An even earlier start for an even earlier flight this time by RyanAir to Dublin. And if that’s not enough there’s the morning traffic into the city! Only 45 minutes to the site I had been told! Well, two and a half hours after touch-down I was walking through the new play centre’s front door! But a great new site and a lovely client to do business with. He makes good coffee too!

Nick Balmforth is an inspector of Soft Play areas and is renowned for his expertise and knowledge of creating and operating safe Indoor Play areas. This blog is an excerpt of his diary which he shares with the Shareandcompareplay.com community in the hope that regular communication and insight will benefit the industry and raise standards.

Soft Play & Social marketing, a report...

http://www.shareandcompareplay.com has started working with Indoor Play Centres to offer Web 2.0 Workshops to their staff and suppliers to explore the significant potential that Social Marketing has to help us transform the Soft Play industry.

The first of these free workshops took place on Monday 20th April at Parents Paradise http://www.parentsparadise.eu in Watford.

We were delighted with the attendance of eight suppliers that are new to Share & Compare Play. Each of these companies serves customers in the Soft Play market but they have had few potential routes to market until we offered to list them for free as part of our mission to help play operators find and learn everything they need to be successful.

Above are a couple of pictures of the attendees (the Group photographs were not the best); Chris Field from “The Noisy Drinks Company” proudly standing next to his machine and Chris Bartup from “Funtasia Design”, one of the quality orientated indoor play service companies in the UK.

If you are an indoor play operator and would like to partner with Shareandcompareplay.com and involve your suppliers in a Free Social Marketing workshop, please drop us a line at contact@shareandcompareplay.com.

If you are a supplier and would like to attend a future Workshop, please get in touch and we will check which is the most convenient for you to attend.

Thanks again to Lyn, Wendy and Rachael from Parents Paradise; we are more impressed each time we visit the play area.

Shareandcompareplay.com is the Indoor Soft Play Comparison website. You can subscribe and unsubscribe to e-mails with special offers and information releases by e-mailing us at contact@shareandcompareplay.com

Exclusive Twitter offer for Share & Compare Play

We are presenting to a Group of industry figures in the Soft Play industry tomorrow.

This is the first of several Workshops scheduled and to celebrate we are offering an Exclusive offer on Twitter for those attending.

Visit http://tinyurl.com/46qlfx for details

Please be quick, offer ends at 10am on 20th April 2009.

Play world, we must do more...

This is an interesting and disturbing project exploring the possible influence of Video games on children.

Whatever the rights and wrongs (you can read more here http://tinyurl.com/cjexcs and here http://tinyurl.com/dyz7lp) the challenge for soft play designers and operators is to offer physical environments that are genuine alternatives to engage, excite and challenge children in a way that reflects the way in which they experience, play and learn in today's world.

Currently, I fear that as an industry we are failing in our responsibility to create a play experience that reflects the needs of today's children and we must do more to offer physical play experiences that are a genuine alternative (or complementary) to the virutal world.

More to follow in the next few days...

Shareandcompareplay.com is the Indoor Soft Play Comparison website. You can subscribe and unsubscribe to e-mails with special offers and information releases by e-mailing us at contact@shareandcompareplay.com

Something for the weekend...the world's best complaint letter!

This is a complaint letter sent to Sir Richard Branson that is considered to be one of the funniest complaint letters ever. We thought we would share this with you for the following reasons:

- It is a reminder (if one were needed) that 'feedback' can be global within minutes and can damage the most valuable of brands
- It is a case study in how companies should respond to feedback (engage personally with the customer / community; addressing customer issues is a job for the most senior in a company; be seen to take action, we understand Virgin have subsequently offered the writer a job evaluating the food offering)
- It is very amusing...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/4344890/Virgin-the-worlds-best-passenger-complaint-letter.html

Have a great Easter Weekend.

The Share & Compare team.

The play inpector calls...part 5

The inspection pace that hotted up during March shows little sign of abating, at least pre-Easter. Since my last blog I have carried out four inspections: a new indoor facility in a huge shopping centre needing its post-installation check, followed by a large established play centre in County Durham needing its annual inspection. Then quite the smallest community play centre I have ever had to annually inspect down in Essex and today to north London for yet another annual.

There may not be as many post-installations coming through as credit tightens but the demand for annuals remains. And so it should since the value of a yearly independent check must surely make good sense to all safety-conscious operators and if it doesn’t one really has to question their business judgement. If for no other reason the insurers back it and sometimes with reduced premiums.

Another interesting detail – four facilities and four different suppliers. I like variety.

Tuesday: A job in Sheffield followed the next day by another further north-east makes an overnight stop inviting. And as my wife’s Austrian family are over for a break an opportunity for them to do a little shopping and sightseeing whilst I get myself dusty! Finding a play centre in a busy shopping centre is always a challenge. Turn left along the mall then right at the next junction and down the escalator and you can’t miss it! Sensing my doubts the Customer Services Manager comes to my rescue and suddenly there it is. Easy really! The view from the top of the escalator is really something! This must be a prime location! A few last minute installation jobs are being finished off but in I go. There is always a value in arriving on site whilst the installation team are still there. Last minute queries arise from them and safety issues found by myself can be immediately addressed. And so they are. On to York. A beautiful historical city and a pleasure to introduce for the first time to visitors from abroad.

Wednesday: Family stay on in York whilst I hit the A1 north. Target Newton Aycliffe. SatNav works perfectly and I am guided to the front door. Very big site and how good to see a large toddler’s play frame with so much choice and play value packed into it. So often there is all too little. Certainly there is adventure and challenge at this Centre with drop slides, bungee trampolines and a climbing wall all vying for the older children’s attention in addition to the more regular features. Very helpful and hospitable Assistant Manager helped to make the job a pleasure.

Saturday: Yes Saturday! I sometimes work weekends when it is necessary at it was that day. A very small and cosy play centre for the lower age range and in the heart of a more rural Essex community. Clearly much appreciated by the local clientele and it was good to be able to pass on some advice to the two hard-working and very committed sisters who run the business.

Tuesday: A job in north London and close to a tube station makes rail travel from Stafford impossible to resist. And the trains ran on time both ways! Is this a first? Last went there in 2006 and it was good to see the facility still well used and being enjoyed. As usual followed around the play frame by a multitude of enquiring children. Feel like the Pied Piper of Hamlin sometimes! How many times do I have to say “I’m carrying out a safety inspection”? A husband and wife team own the business and both have very responsible and demanding first jobs in their community, one in health care and the other in the prison service. You have to admire their energy and commitment.

Looking forward to an Easter break now. Catch up with me again after that.

Nick Balmforth is an inspector of Soft Play areas and is renowned for his expertise and knowledge of creating and operating safe Indoor Play areas. This blog is an excerpt of his diary which he shares with the Shareandcompareplay.com community in the hope that regular communication and insight will benefit the industry and raise standards.

Soft Play for adults..."The Independent"

I read with interest this article in The Independent newspaper, especially the last sentence:

"One day someone will open a soft-play centre for adults only - complete with giant ball ponds, padded trampolines and a really good bar – and they'll make a fortune."

I know that adult orientated soft play centres have been built in Europe with some success and given the increasing body of evidence of the importance of play for adults and children alike, this is perhaps an interesting opportunity for Entrepreneurs.

Irresistible lure of the playground

The Tate Modern has announced that it is to reconstruct a famous 1971 installation by the artist Robert Morris which was obliged to close after four days because it had become too hazardous for visitors.

Bodyspacemotionthings consisted of a kind of plywood adventure playground which gallery-goers could crawl through, clamber up and slide down. Unfortunately, the materials used to build it couldn't withstand the enthusiasm of those who accepted its implicit invitation to regress to childhood, but the new version will be constructed from materials designed to meet health and safety laws.

Like the gallery's giant spiral slide, I predict it will be a huge hit – not because, as the artist intended, we hunger to "become aware of our own bodies, gravity, effort, fatigue" but because there's an untapped appetite for grown-up playgrounds. One day someone will open a soft-play centre for adults only - complete with giant ball ponds, padded trampolines and a really good bar – and they'll make a fortune.

You can see the article here http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/thomas-sutcliffe/tom-sutcliffe-why-respect-what-you-have-paid-for-1664411.html (although it is published in full above).

Shareandcompareplay.com is the Indoor Soft Play Comparison website. You can subscribe and unsubscribe to e-mails with special offers and information releases by e-mailing us at contact@shareandcompareplay.com

Science: Play is critical for Children (and Adults)

This is a fascinating article on the serious need for play that has implications for the indoor play industry and beyond. It is a dramatic (and scientifically researched) call-to-action to re-imagine the provision and role of play in society.

Anyone involved in play (from soft play equipment suppliers to play operators and parents) should digest this article time and again and immediately consider their part in supporting the creation of a free-play environment; it should immediately change the way in which every play centre is designed, built and operated.

Moreover, this should be read by every parent, by every adult (especially if they have forgotten how to play), by every indoor play operator, by every play designer, by every person who works or lives with children.

This has changed our business forever and renewed our focus on being a catalyst for change in the play industry; please share it with everyone you know.

Key concepts:

• Childhood play is crucial for social, emotional and cognitive development.
• Imaginative and rambunctious “free play,” as opposed to games or structured activities, is the most essential type.
• Kids and animals that do not play when they are young may grow into anxious, socially maladjusted adults.

Some highlights:

“Data suggest that a lack of opportunities for unstructured, imaginative play can keep children from growing into happy, well-adjusted adults. “Free play,” as scientists call it, is critical for becoming socially adept, coping with stress and building cognitive skills such as problem solving”

“a play-deprived childhood disrupts normal social, emotional and cognitive development in humans and animals…limiting free play in kids may result in a generation of anxious, unhappy and socially maladjusted adults. The consequence of a life that is seriously play-deprived is serious stuff… But it is never too late to start: play also promotes the continued mental and physical well-being of adults.”

“The child initiates and creates free play. It might involve fantasies—such as pretending to be doctors or princesses or playing house—or it might include mock fighting, as when kids (primarily boys) wrestle and tumble with one another for fun, switching roles periodically so that neither of them always wins. And free play is most similar to play seen in the animal kingdom, suggesting that it has important evolutionary roots.”

“M. Pellis, a behavioral neuroscientist at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta. Although those instincts are natural, protecting kids “simply defrays those costs to later, when those same children will have difficulty in dealing with an unpredictable, complex world,” Pellis says. “A child who has had a rich exposure to social play experiences is more likely to become an adult who can manage unpredictable social situations.”

ShareAndComparePlay.com is the Indoor Play Supplier Comparison Website that Saves Play Operators £10,000s. The only source of independent reviews on every Supplier to the Play Industry, ShareAndComparePlay.com works to revolutionise the Play Experience for Children and to enable Businesses to profitably understand and meet the future needs of Families.

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Soft Play and the middleman...a Seth Godin posting

This is a recent article by Seth Godin on the role of agents http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/03/where-have-all-the-agents-gone.html , he is the world's most popular business blogger and below is an excerpt from the post.

"Key point: anonymous agents are interchangeable and virtually worthless. Agents that don't do anything but help one side find the other side in a human approximation of Google aren't so helpful any more."

In a world and market that is becoming increasingly transparent, the role and value of agents (a.k.a. a middleman) is increasingly called into question.

The indoor play industry is no different; for example, all soft play suppliers are middlemen to varying degrees.

If you are a (prospective) operator, it is perhaps worth asking "which supplier adds the most value to my project?" and "am I best to source some products or services directly."

If you are a supplier to indoor play centres then it is perhaps time to ask, "what does each individual customer value" and "how can I add considerable and unique value in this project?"

If other markets are any indicator, the old answers probably won't work for much longer and the industry will be better for it.

The play inspector calls.....part 4

Another varied week and a reminder that when I refer to providers of indoor play facilities I am not just talking about those who run Play and Party Centres as a private business but also those that want an indoor play facility as part of a wider range of child and family services offered in their establishment. These can be in recreation, child-care, visitor centres, airports, theme parks, passenger ships or whatever. Over the 18 years or so that I have been doing this work I have never ceased to be amazed at the many and varied places the inspections have taken me. For my part it all helps to keep my business life interesting and it also shows just how this still fledgling industry has spread its wings since it began to see light of day in children’s hospitals and special schools back in the 1970s.

Last week of the four jobs carried out two were in local authority run sports and leisure centres up in the North East, one was a large established play centre run in association with a children’s nursery on a trading estate in the East Midlands and the other a small down-town day nursery in the West Midlands. Three were independent post-installation inspections and one an annual. Play frames and equipment inspected came from three different suppliers, all British.

Monday: I Head north-east up the A1. A long-haul journey with refreshment break at Scotch Corner but traffic is generally light and progress none too difficult. My targets are two established Sports Centres close to or on the east coast each having serious money spent on them as part of a major upgrading of facilities. My Sat-Nav gets totally confused as I approach the Tyne-Tunnel. Do a U Turn! Are you serious? I arrive at the first job. So glad I keep my hard hat and fluorescent jacket in the back of the car since the site is teeming with construction workers. Fairly small two-level play frame, very well designed and built and with no big safety issues to address. Move on. Next site a convenient five miles away so soon there. Main problem is that another 24 hours are necessary before the site is completely finished although the basics are all in. Still this gives me a welcome opportunity to talk through some remaining issues with both the installation team leader and the Sports Centre Manager and both seem to feel it was good to have me there at that time. All safety issues appear to have been well thought about and planned for and I eventually leave site confident the job will be well finished off.

Tuesday: I arrive at a large, attractive and now well established Play Centre. It is well said you never get a second chance to make a first impression. This Centre never fails to impress me. As soon as I set foot through the door it is immediately warm, inviting and informative. Reception staff show all the evidence of good training and go through all the correct admission procedures. So important! I am met warmly by the owner who soon hands over a full analysis of all the accidents and injuries recorded at his Centre over the previous twelve months. Altogether it is a very impressively detailed piece of work by a very well organised and caring proprietor. Unsurprisingly the remainder of the annual inspection is a pleasure to carry out.

Wednesday: From one of the largest Play Centres to one of the smallest I have ever inspected. But that makes it no less valuable to those who run it and the Day Nursery children who came in to trial it whilst I was there certainly gave it the thumbs-up. A few safety issues to address – there often are in very small facilities where everything is very close but essentially the product is well designed and built.

That’s all the travelling for this week but again reports have to be written so it’s back to the computer.

Nick Balmforth is an inspector of Soft Play areas and is renowned for his expertise and knowledge of creating and operating safe Indoor Play areas. This blog is an excerpt of his diary which he shares with the Shareandcompareplay.com community in the hope that regular communication and insight will benefit the industry and raise standards.