Soft play centre’s first year in figures

Lets Explore, the premium soft play centre on the borders of Surrey and Sussex, has now been open a whole financial year. On its first official birthday, the company releases its top-line statics, and announces how its Formula 1 sister company - Lets Race - has shut it doors for the last time to make way for a much-needed childcare facility in the area.

In just 12 months the Horley based soft play centre has:

• Welcomed more than 90,000 visitors
• Hosted and celebrated 453 birthday parties
• Seen 5,788 pieces of fruit eaten by children
• Served 23,157 hot drinks to parents
• Spent 21,112 hours keeping the facilities clean
• Issued 500 memberships
• Raised nearly £1,000 for local charities

The instant success of Lets Explore is down to the company’s founders, Ben Stephenson and Stuart Duncan, who noticed a gap in the market for a premium soft play venue in their immediate catchment. Converting a disused warehouse (to adjoin their existing Lets Race and Lets Golf attractions next door) into the soft play centre that stands there today didn’t come cheap. The investment paid off though, and now the founders are turning their attention to a new project in the children’s market - Lets Explore Day Nursery.

Ben said: “Since we first opened the doors we have been overwhelmed by the positive feedback we regularly receive about our facilities - and the statistics reinforce how successful our first full year has been.

“Watching Lets Explore grow in popularity, and listening closely to our customers’ feedback, made us realise there is a need for a quality childcare establishment locally too. The ever-growing business population around Gatwick, Crawley, Reigate and Redhill, alongside the numerous housing developments currently being built around the area, meant childcare resources were stretched thin, giving us the perfect opportunity to expand and embark on an exciting new venture – Lets Explore Day Nursery.”

“Working with Ofsted, we knew we wanted the nursery to be intertwined with the soft play element of the business to give babies and young children a distinct difference in playtime, enhance their motor skills, and stimulate their senses in a way that no other local nursery could. We therefore took the decision to convert our first business on the site - the Lets Race Formula 1 simulation centre - into the new nursery space.

“While the disbandment of Lets Race - the company that first put us on the map in Horley - was hard to see, we knew it was the right business decision. The technology sector it competed in is changing at lightning speed and ultimately consumer demand changed.  Right now, the community - both residentially and from employees at surrounding businesses - requires childcare facilities. We hope our new nursery will be received as well as Lets Explore has been, and look forward to opening our new venture over the coming months.”

Interviews with Ben Stephenson - Co-founder of Lets Explore - are available upon request. Please register your interest with the media contact below.