Latest Plan B

[MarillionFan]

Does anyone use Soft Play sites with their kids? Does anyone know of a good chain, franchise of Soft Plays??

I'm fairly convinced that each soft play is pretty much a 'standalone' business and that there aren't any well known franchises in the UK?

Anyone use them?

[AtW]

Why won't you just stick to what you do best and leave Plan Bs to those who can handle non-trivial challenges?

Get us a new sockie or something - that Malcolm will soon be banned I fear

[MarillionFan]

Why won't you just stick to what you do best and leave Plan Bs to those who can handle non-trivial challenges?

Get us a new sockie or something - that Malcolm will soon be banned I fear

You make's me laugh. The Spice of Life is what it's all about.

As I settle down into my latest sojourn, I become bored and look to the next challenge.

[mudskipper]

How about soft play for adults? Why should kids have all the fun? You could combine with some sort of foam party.

[SimonMac]

They are a massive money maker, especially in tulip weather, I think they are all independent though

[RasputinDude]

We have looked into this as a PlanC.

The softplay equipment itself is leased and maintained by an external company (can't remember the name but 10 minutes on google will find them). The kitchen and extra facilities are up to you.

The business model that MrsDude and I worked out was pretty encouraging; we worked out that you need to be around 5 miles from an existing one and be much better at a couple of things than the surrounding ones; we also reckoned start up costs of around 100k - 150k to make a *really* good one.

PM me if you want any further info.

[VirtualMonkey]

and they cost an absolute fortune to set up.
i looked into a year or so back because my wife has an interest in that sort of thing.
a big one back then would have been about 250-300k to buy and install..before the cost of the building, etc.

[MarillionFan]

They are a massive money maker, especially in tulip weather, I think they are all independent though

Consensus coming in is that they are all independent.

Market is ripe for someone to put a decent chain together.

Will do research later tonight.

[eek]

Consensus coming in is that they are all independent.

Market is ripe for someone to put a decent chain together.

Will do research later tonight.

There is a smallish chain of them around the south east that Brillo mentioned in the past.

They looked a fair bit more expensive compared to my local independents but as i'm not in South London anymore those prices could be reasonable.

Oh and don't forget the chains that do the opposite approach with the softplay attached to a crap food pub or china pot painting. The latter has closed in a few places so its probably not the best concept.

[Old Hack]

Couple of other angles not explored either which would make more money as a chain.