LSS 2023 Review
For a lot of people this show was just another year - No different to any other. For others though it was a real indicator of the future of UK Trade-shows…
Our industry is small and while we all pretend to be macho guys, most of us like knowing what’s going on behind the scenes - Bits of industry news that others aren’t privvy to.
Most people knew that the show traded hands after last year. It used to be owned and run by Brian Auty (from Rodeo Sales - now officially retired) - But was sold to Luke Russell who also expanded his own hire business (Russell Up Events) by purchasing and taking over P&J Entertainments.
With the only running show in the country now in the hands of someone new - All eyes have been focused on him and judging good the show is - Most people wanting and willing it to succeed for the sake of the future of leisure industry trade shows in the UK. - A lot of pressure!
The show organiser had a lot of support, I’m pleased to see that Airquee got behind the show in a big way - Not just with their size “stand”, but also doing a lot of work in marketing to attract people. BCN always get behind the show and do their best to drive registrations and herd numbers towards the door. Each exhibtor did their part in trying to create a buzz for the show and bring their customers along and attract new ones, too.
I am very pleased to say that I think that the LSS delivered - Not only that, but surpassed many people’s expectations - Leaving everyone anticipating next year with more than just optimism, but reassurance that it’s in safe hands.
You’ll find a little review and write-up of most exhibitors below. There may well be some that I missed, this isn’t meant to offend - They’ve either been over-looked or I didn’t get a chance to really look at their products.
Bouncy Castle Sales
I was very pleased when I saw their name make the exhibitor board as a late entry this year. It’s not a secret that they provide a lower budget product but you need a trade show to have a variety and market spread. It also helps keeps other manufacturers feet on the ground when it comes to the spiralling and ever increasing prices they are asking. - You need balance.
The owner - Andy has been in the industry for 25 years. This should prove to anyone that his company has a place in the market and seeing that represented at a trade show is important.
When buying a pair of trainers with a high price tag you might ask yourself “Am I paying for the brand or are they really worth it?” you need to almost ask the opposite when paying much less: “Is what they offer cheap, or good value?”. I can’t answer that, but I can share what I observed at the show...
There was a front slide bouncy castle, a good size that compared to any other on the market. It was disco ready with light and speaker pouch. It had a fitted rain cover and the material used is better than I have ever seen them use previously. It had velcro strips on the front and came with a set of artwork, too. It had seatbelt webbing, come in either cape material or even gloss at no extra cost and was all sewn on a twin needle machine. There was no pinch points, no unnecessary stress areas, it was straight and had no twists. This was on offer for £900 - Which is quite unbelievable. No one else is offering prices quite like that.
The above example was just one of many they had on display that was almost too good to be true. Narrow castles with velcro and disco ready for £500, a white wedding castle that I almost bought myself but had to remind myself of how much I hate shoes, grottos that cost less than ball pools and genuine bargains, not just for newbies but also for established hirers.
The cream of the crop was the pastel deal. It looked well made and I wasn’t sure if it was an import or not. It included ball pool, soft play and castle all in very nice pastel colours and a great celebration print that went genuinely well with the theme. This was all in for £1000 and I can see the strong appeal for people who don’t want heavy equipment but want to offer something lush and special looking (an instagram package), but in reality they’re sticking in the back of their Ford Fiesta.
For someone new to the industry, using bouncy castle sales you can get your foot in the door and offer the types of equipment that usually only more established companies can provide.
What Andy seems to be doing is putting the hours in on the product to offer more. I’m not sure how he is doing it with UK staff, but he’s putting in the extras. The anchor points are no-longer just webbing and a d-ring but they’re reinforced. The webbing is on the bed and all round the steps. It looks like he is adding more hours into each unit and trying to give more value.
Everyone should be bringing their best to the shows - What you see at the show you have to understand as being the most polished version, so whether or not this level is maintained on the orders is an unknown, but based on what was shown - This was a very strong exhibit and this opinion was shared amongst several other attendees that I spoke to.
P & J Entertainments
There was a lack of the regular faces at the stand - While Dave was at the show, he was too run down to work it and Paul Quaif was sorely missed. This did detract a little from the experience available to draw from, but they still put on a popular stand and offered the same quality products that have put and kept them on the map for years - Namely buzz wires!
The retro arcade machines looked improved this year - With more games available and looking a little plusher. They was exhibited for the first time last year and one or two had little knocks on them (I suspect that they came off the hire fleet and wasn’t brand new), but these looked in much better condition.
Fun Fair Play
It was so good to see the classic fete styled A-frame board games being exhibited again at the LSS - It’s a gap that’s been missing for a while! While Rodeo Sales have the market on the corporate games, these boards from Fun Fair Play aren’t just you’re average mid-range leisure items… It was exciting to see so many different applications, too.
They haven’t just come at it from the perspective of your average hirer and gone in only at classic PTA games; Splat the rat, tin-can alley, roll a penny etc. They have seen the wider application and broadened the audience to include stag-dos, weddings and birthday parties.
Some of the games clearly came from someone with a dirty mind (or at least lives with someone with one). - I suspect they’ve been spending too much time with Phil Donovan. But they’re cheeky and they work. They’re not too much that it’s obscene, but they’re funny enough to be a novelty that gets a genuine laugh. It’s a fine balance but Sam has got it right in my opinion.
On the other end of the scale you have the wedding boards with seating plans, congratulations and and other applications - Combine it with some of the Wood Works items and you have a pretty neat package.
The classic games would be my personal preference for where I believe my own company is in the market, they would be embraced by PTA’s - But I can see how it would be easy to try and build up the others too. Luckily that’s pretty easy as the boards are like velcro units and can be changed easily - So it’s not a huge outlay. It enables you to leverage your existing base unit and change it completely. Unlike a bouncy castle it’s very unlikely you would need that base on the same day either - If you have a big school fete with them out as well as a Wedding event then you have some of the nicer problems in life.
Some PTA’s are going to make their own and try the Blue Peter approach, but if they want something that looks the business, then this is what you want to offer. Ideal for anyone who does a lot of school fetes - Especially if you are trying to creep into other markets at the same time - Easy to store and offer a big range with only half a dozen boards.
Probably shouldn’t add this, but you’ve got to be real… Was funny seeing Sam turn up when Lee trashed the show. Lee’s comments where his own and not reflective of Sam, but it made me laugh that he let her face the music. What a knob-head, lol.
Bouncy Castle Network
I find this the hardest one to write without sounding like a fan-boy with my nose stuck firmly up their arse, so I will start with what I would have liked to see but didn’t: Tablets. - I have said the same thing for several years!
While BCN site owners may predominantly use a laptop/desktop to Admin their site, this isn’t as true today as it was in the past and it’s especially untrue for how customers use those sites - That tipping point was over some time ago. They need more digital signage and definitely need tablets so that they can walk around with people un-tethered to the stand. - Show people route planning, show them how customers see the site, show them how to take a photo of something they just bought at the show and put it on their site while still there - Imagine the success story of doing that and a booking came in for it while they was still looking round.
The above is probably the only dig I can have at them; And it isn’t even a dig, just a suggestion really.
The truth is that BCN are market leaders for content management sites in the inflatable industry. Not just in the UK but now recognised and truly broken into the US. They roll out update after update and it’s now been quite some time since I can claim to be an expert in all areas of the tool; There are just too many features that no one single hire company is using all of them at once!
They are on the cutting edge, things you only see with big brand technologies are actually in the BCN platform. Things like route planning - That’s a cottage industry unto itself. Ticket selling - You have companies like bookitbee, eventbrite, ticket-master all competing and developing big systems just for that one tiny area, yet BCN are including it in their tool and not event charging for it. You list something on eBay now and it prompts you with AI auto generation for the content with surprising accuracy - BCN are now offering this too.
Quite frankly I am surprised that they aren’t licensing their API for other companies outside of our industry to use. I hope they don’t because this may lead them down software house route and make them a viable target for some venture capitalist company to buy - Eddy and Aftab can retire when I do and not a moment sooner!
While this may seem like the same old review of BCN, very complimentary and virtually a copy/paste of last year, I will add in some first-hand gossip…
There has always been a healthy sense of competition between the two main providers in the UK - BCN and KBS, so it was good to see KBS owner Jimi Thomas at the show as an attendee and actually speaking with the BCN team. - by chance, I was looking at a Vortex inflatable at the time and saw this in person - Otherwise I wouldn’t have believed it. It looked like some bridges where being made - Although I did chuckle to myself when Aftab tried to get Jimi to have a photo on the BCN stand and Jimi wasn’t quite ready for that - Not yet - But who knows what next year may bring.
Soft Play Planet
I was pleased to see Soft Play Planet return this year. They had a belter of a show last year so was eager to see what they had to offer. Despite there only being two soft-play focused exhibitors, most manufacturers present also had soft play for sale - So it was still very competitive and hard to stand out.
It was a shame that they didn’t have any inflatable ball pools this year, they seemed to be focused a lot more specifically on the soft play. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it did seem like their display didn’t have as much variety to offer as the previous year despite having a similar floor space.
I think their approach this year was just to bring as much stock as possible and bring their best sellers, they was packed with hop scotch mats, bags and bags of soft play, ball pools, peek-a-boo stands and more.
This isn’t a bad thing - I think one of the complaints last year was that the exhibition pieces where the only ones they had. If you wanted to buy it on the Sunday you was out of luck - They needed it for Monday to display. They certainly came prepared and come stocked up this year to allow people to walk out with it, but I do wonder if this came at the cost of more variety and at the sacrifice of bringing new innovation.
It’s a harsh and unfair criticism really - I complain when you don’t bring enough stock to sell on the day, then complain when you bring too much and have focused on existing products and haven’t displayed lots of new stuff.
Basically they need to find a balance - After-all, a show is for exhibition of your ability, skill and quality of product. It’s displaying your very best.
The quality of the product continues to improve. The print quality doesn’t need improvement and the build quality was always very good - But upon inspection I think it’s arguable and reasonable to compare them to what many people considered the best build quality of soft play - All Shapes. They triangles stack without slipping, the shapes are balanced, not baggy, the build-a-stack things are well made and do not topple, the shapes are all neat and not bulging or billowing out of themselves like a fat man with his guts hanging out his t-shirt.
High praise for the artwork, the build quality and the print - Just wish they had taken more variety.
JB Inflatables
JB are ahead of a lot of UK manufacturers in terms of what they are able to produce. Most UK manufactures boil things down to the most basic concept to produce the unit quickly and cheaply. They don’t have time to mess around with intricate features, adding a wrap around 3D snake just for the fun on it on a turret or a monkey head that looks cartoon accurate instead of some nightmarish abomination from someone used to making sandbags and turning out quick castles all day long. - JB Inflatables do invest this time and it shows. Their inflatables are design-wise in another league to most UK made bouncy castles.
Some of the designs are a little whacky and while they stand-out, I am not convinced they would hire any better than a standard inflatable because they feel weird looking. - It feels like they have the capability of airquee, but without the lazered in insight to the UK market - It may well work in other European countries, but it needs to be a bit more tailored for the UK.
They’re still using PVC webbing instead of Seat-belt. This is something of a concern for longevity with little nicks and de-lamination occurring after a few years. - A shame as some of the larger inflatable play zones would be ideal for smaller softplay centres, leisure centres and similar places - But they need to take a real amount of abuse.
I admire and appreciate the effort, they look fantastic. I just wish they would sit down and look at the UK market, make some designs specifically for the UK and put their very clear skill and talent into something beautiful rather than trying to sell us a design that’s clearly made for another country.
Daizys Embroidery and Print
Firstly, it has to be said that these are the nicest people. That isn’t to say that other people aren’t friendly or approachable - But business is business and they are exhibiting castles, pizza ovens or whatever product it is. They need it to succeed and make an impression.
In Stacey’s case it genuinely feels like she got a stand as a business excuse to chat to people and have a look at inflatables and reminisce about an industry she used to be in. - They used to run an inflatable hire company.
I wouldn’t be surprised if next year she completely dropped the pretence and just come along with a couple of sofas, a kettle and some mugs - She was lovely to speak with and just oozed “mum” with a real genuineness that cannot be faked.
That said, her daughter Megan - Who I understand is taking a leading role in the clothing side of the business was very helpful. We needed to pick-up an order we placed, but we also needed more and she was legitimately insightful. We was going to go with jackets or hoodies, but she offered some advice and we ended up going with something else entirely which made more practical sense.
I always order all the business clothing from them. I legitimately have no idea whether they are low priced or high - have never once searched around, I am far more interested in service and staying loyal with a small business that I know, knows me.
Not only that, but the quality has never let me down. I’ve never had it go all funny after a few washes, it’s not come undone or shrunk.
I don’t know whether I could get it half the price or whether it should be costing me double else where - Why would I even look anywhere else and risk an inferior product or spend my money with some faceless drop shipping company. Especially when this company is “one of us” - I’m a big believer in keeping things inside the circle. If a bouncy castle man is doing leads, buy from him. If a bouncy castle man is doing sand bags, buy them from him. If a bouncy castle women is doing clothing - Buy from Daizy’s.
Airquee
Once again, you cannot talk about the LSS without talking about Airquee. At this point, I really think the LSS needs to consider/recognise Airquee as a partner; Similar to how BCN supports the show. They went above and beyond to get people through the door, putting real resources into marketing - They also easily had the biggest show space. Without them, it would be a different kind of show.
I was given a heads up that Airquee was going to launch a new model at the show, so was excited to see what they had - But kind of expected it too. A company as big as them should be bringing a new model or something different, it would take a lot for them to do something that actually raised an eye-brow or really impressed every one, but that’s exactly what they did…
I actually lost count of the amount of new equipment they displayed. Not just small variations on models either, but whole new inflatables.
I used to look at JB Inflatables and Airquee as fairly on par with each-other in terms of design and innovation, but in my opinion Airquee are pulling further and further away from them. They are leading the market right now and have been for a while. Everyone else is sitting there and looking across at what Airquee are doing for inspiration and direction.
I was speaking with Essex’s inflatable Lord and ruler (Phil Donovan) and he made a very good point about them. They are introducing elements to inflatables that are non-practical and serve no real purpose, yet look like it’s belonged there all along and make the inflatable stand-out and cause you to go “Wow!”.
The example was an alien slide (I’m not actually that keen on the theme myself, but it’s a good example); At the top of the slide you had see-through plastic bubbles (like the ones you get in disco domes to hold the lights) and inside them there was light plastic ping-pong balls. These balls then bounced around and looked pretty cool. - Served zero functional purpose and will not make the slide any faster, the equipment any safer or any impact what-so-ever to the slide experience - Yet somehow it made it just look more awesome and better than other slides.
There are different types of customer when looking to book a bouncy castle. Some are driven by price, some by service, some by product - Most people would rather have the customer that has price as a secondary thought to the experience, the product itself and the service they receive - These products they are producing are for that type of customer.
There’s a place in the market for all types of manufacturer and all types of customer, but it’s easy to recognise where Airquee are in that market.
Whether it’s a good thing or not, they are driving and disrupting the industry. Their 3D products are changing things and it’s becoming a case of keeping up or being left behind. I have never seen change happen so quickly in our industry but stock turn-over periods are shortening - You can’t hang on to that 25 year old Boing unit forever, times are changing…
The 3D combo castles are really something to behold. The Jungle Safari one looks like a real-life cartoon with characters popping out! The dream-car one is an excellent reaction to the market. - All too often manufacturers are slow to react to new themes or trending phenomenon - Releasing it a year after everyone has forgotten all about it, but this time they have managed to react and get their product to market very quickly - The embedded glitter and hot-pink colour makes this just look incredible.
Was interesting to see the marbled flooring on the farm theme combi. This is something that is seen in the US market on their water slides all the time, so it was nice to see it in the UK up-close. Have to say, I think we will be seeing more of it in the future, it looked incredible.
Some of the combi units had too small of a slide end opening for me. I also felt that the super-hero 3D combi needed a few tweaks (any weight what-so-ever on the cape collapsed the hero and would no-doubt be a repair job very frequently. It could easily be changed and they did mention that it would be different on all subsequent builds - This just being a show piece they was desperate to get out.
The Dinosaur playpark was brilliant - Same kind of model to their fairy land bug one, but in a theme that I think is more accessible to boys and girls. Loved that you could put soft pay blocks into slots in the inflatable - very cool!
The dinosaur disco dome was very impressive. I feel like more people would buy it if it was smaller - A garden unit version as an alternative. It certainly drew attention though, so maybe bigger really is better. Would be nice to see a dinosaur and unicorn version in the mini versions though - I think they would look nice.
The inflatable games looked like very serious stuff. Not for your back garden hirer, but very appealing to events companies and offered a tad more corporate feel to them than what is currently on the market from others.
Lots of big statement pieces - The monster truck was just ridiculous. It’s only a 28 foot fun-run, but would easily be the centre-piece of any school fete, would not look out of place at a real fun-fair or in the middle of a shopping centre for a product launch. You have to weigh up whether you believe you’ll get the hire price you would need to set in order to offer it - A school PTA struggling for budget and asking for the best possible price would likely get two similar sized fun-runs elsewhere, but if you are looking at corporate events or a permanent venue, it’s probably exactly right.
Very interesting exhibit and so many new things to see. They really smashed it.
Vortex Inflatables
It has been a pleasure watching Liam from Vortex grow his company. He started in little more than a shed after being very unhappy working at another company. He was one of the few success stories where he did follow-through and make it. Most people complain, moan, talk a big game and do very little to ever change. He worked hard and despite long odds he made it work and didn’t just survive, but thrived.
Last year he made a very big noise in coming to the show, not just as a small one-man band, but with lots of staff, a big exhibit and lots of cool products. I think the whole industry smiled for him. - So it’s very difficult - Almost a guilty feeling to share some small critiques, but if the review was all glowing then it wouldn’t be genuine.
To Liam’s full credit, he took on a lot of feedback from last year. His own ball pools where smaller - Last year they was too big and took too many balls and he is now also offering matching soft play (which is a must). The disco night club was bigger as was needed and he was asked to make bigger slides.
He isn’t afraid of change and takes on feedback - He is happy to change the model if everyone is telling him that’s what they want. This was all very positive to see.
The material colour and unicorn artwork on the display inflatables was the best. It was like one of those TV shows where you have to guess if it’s cake or not. Absolutely loved the artwork and the material colour.
I was also pleased to see him take on a complicated project and also add some innovation. He had a bouncy castle that was more like a play zone. Very wide and then made even wider with a side slide added on the end. It also had a ball pool out in front, but not accessible from the castle itself. It was part of the inflatable, but kinda separate too. With so many of these ball pool attached castle things on the market that can fail inspections, this was done quite nicely and was far enough away from the bounce area and separated that it didn’t feel like a kid could hurt a baby. The ball pool was also detachable, which felt like a very cool touch. Perhaps in the future more modular options could be added… Add a little slide instead or some other option.
While the above concept was excellent, sadly the build wasn’t quite right - Someone definitely made a mistake on the table. The far right turret was visibly warped and bent over. You didn’t need to be an expert in bouncy castles to see that something was wrong here.
The exhibits show off your best work, your cream of the crop and what you’re capable of. I understand wanting to show off a new model with the caveat of “We know it looks weird, but judge us on the concept not this 04:00 build that we completed with no sleep”, but I wonder if sometimes this does more harm than good.
The 10 foot platform slide was a fantastic new model and design. I loved seeing it and especially as it signalled that Vortex are happy to respond to requests and design new models based on direct feedback. As a first attempt it was ambitious, sadly it was warped - The right hand side was twisted and it was clear to see for everyone. Part of the problem was the bottom right hand corner, it was so tight that it was twisting the entire unit.
It’s a shame because if this was built to the design it really would have been an amazing slide and I know that the second one will be so much better! It didn’t quite have the impact it deserved, it should have been something to talk about and people should have been saying it was a great alternative to the similar (but not the same) Airquee slides.
The model is there, but it looks like someone made a measuring mistake on the table and they’ve pulled it over and sewn it up anyway. I can see how it happens... You want to show new things at the show, but they need to be right.
If it was altered or he had more time to make it right, it would have been a real beauty. The model is really nice, it had all internal seams, great the rain cover is the right size to stop kids climbing or performing flips, perfect run-off size, great steepness/gradient and some complicated designing has gone into it. It’s a shame that this one had a misshap, but I am sure the same mistake wont happen twice.
If you’re being fair and open-minded you would say that the few faults where due to them being new builds and most people know how much pressure manufacturers are under in the build up to the shows. Poor sod probably built it while missing sleep and missing home.
Loved the construction theme and the shallow A-Frame. Not sure what size it was, but it was different. I like having different shaped and sized inflatables to fit weird gardens and venues. I nearly bought this, but would probably go generic and it’s unique selling point be the shape and size, rather than trying to hire and push that particular theme (nice as it was).
The soft play being sold was just as good as anyone else’s. A hard thing to achieve when you have so many others in the market - But it was. Easy to tell it was made by someone skilled, they must have someone dedicated to it, because it’s a hard thing to do - Especially to be that standard so quickly right from the start.
I know Liam and Vortex are capable of great quality and the few units that did have any issues would be a one-off - Or down to a rush for the exhibit and the desire to display variety and fill the space.
The Woodworx
Last year I didn’t spend that much time looking at the stand. I remember that I was impressed with how classy it looked, despite trying to have that “rustic” feel - A difficult feat to pull off. I’ve genuinely seen some with chop-saw marks all over it and bent nails from other companies, but this wasn’t like that at all.
This year I wanted a bit of a closer look. It’s the sort of product that I don’t offer, but almost want to invent a reason to buy it because it’s nice.
I was super pleased to see he had a larger exhibit space and even more on offer than last year and was able to show-case the potential of it. It’s not just birthday numbers, but you can have these lights for wedding venues, christmas displays and more.
They’re very upmarket and genuinely would look good in a hotel reception, shopping centre or some grand wedding castle foyer. Not only that, but the lights used can be changed from a warm, glowing white, to a brilliant white bright, coloured, flashing and phasing from one letter/number to the other in sequential order - They are all linked together, so patterns are possible if you have them on the dance floor and it’s moved from wedding speeches and toasts to more of a dance mood.
Really affordable as well. I suppose they can’t be too expensive because people would just have a go at making their own - But you’re never going to get it as good as these and for the price you don’t have to. I think you would end up with something a bit too “rustic” if you tried doing it yourself. As good as you think you are it would end up looking like a kids school project bird box in comparison.
They also had a golf set on display - 9 holes in total. At first I didn’t think it would be challenging enough, but then when I looked I realised that all the obstacles are actually velcro. You can make it different each time and as hard or as easy as you want. It also means you can pull them off and stack them all for storage really easily - It’s been well thought through.
The whole set-up was on sale for £2k, but when you think about how much you’ll hire it out for (at a guess this is between £395-£595) it’s a better ROI than bouncy castles. I think for £2k it’s something you can buy that helps you offer something else when it’s windy, start building corporate packages as well as creeping into that wedding market. It can be stand-alone and well worth it, but you can also bolt on your wedding castle or your celebration castle. Also add on the light up numbers and eventually get that dance floor you want. Pretty soon you’ve got bookings that don’t include inflatables and you’ve stealthily started moving into a different market and broadening your business.
I wouldn’t over-look this stand, it’s well worth thinking about. https://www.facebook.com/thewoodworx/
Pro Castles
I was looking forward to this exhibit. I know that the owner has a long history of making inflatables and while “Pro Castles” may not be a recognised name to every one, for people who know the owner they know he makes good equipment and is fairly well respected by most.
I haven’t seen many Pro Castles out in the wild, so I wanted to pay close attention.
They used a single needle machine - I know some people who say this doesn’t matter and they may well have a point. I respect Ben Ecclestone and he is a big believer that single needle can often be better - It’s the quality of the thread that matters most. My preference is twin rows of stitching, so for me personally this was a little off-putting, but that isn’t to say that I’m right. - Plenty of people stand by this and have no issues and lots of people testify to the build quality of Pro Castles.
What did put me off a little was the slide build. I felt that for someone with so much experience it was a little lazy to have external seams on the inside of the inflatable on the slide coming down. To be fair they was hemmed, but they could still be a bit rough or cause an issue for a child sliding down them - Especially with some friction.
It was weird, because the outside of the slide actually had internal seams. I’m assuming this was done to make it easier for the netted cover over the top - Sewing it into the external seam and then going over it. All they had to do though was make that netting wider and go the whole way over so it reached the outside and then make the slide seams internal. - In fact, it wouldn’t really hurt to make it all internal - Would just look better - But at least sort out the external seams on the internal parts of the slide.
The foot print was nice - For such a tall platform it didn’t take up much space at all - It looked like a great option if weight is an issue - You want a tall slide but worried about doing it by yourself.
The other inflatables and bouncy castles where all very nice, well made and looked like good value. The v-front castle with the arch was smart looking, crisp lines and the material being used feels very nice.
I was a bit worried about the artwork on the Unicorn castle. He added a bag of glitter to the laminate/laquer and then has added this over the artwork. It was clearly an attempt to make the unicorn castle actually sparkle.
The trouble is, I know first hand that it doesn’t work. The glitter needs to be in the material itself, not the laminate. Adding it to the laminate will just make the glitter rise over time and come out everywhere, make the surface feel rough and ultimately damage the artwork.
It’s a good idea in theory and I feel bad saying it because I also made the same mistake once.
To make things worse, he’s applied it and then not given it enough time to dry. So when it’s been rolled up the laminate was still “tacky” and actually stuck to itself. I can just imagine him unrolling it at the show and that sinking feeling of “please God no!” as the artwork all started to un-stick. - I have had the exact same feeling unrolling a castle at a customers when it’s been put away wet and it’s gone mouldy.
I can relate to the above and feel very guilty bringing it up, because the other artwork all seemed great. - There was no hiding it though, anyone that touched it felt that roughness immediately and saw that the artwork was peeling where it had been stuck. It’d be weird if it wasn’t mentioned in this review because it was definitely a thing - By mentioning and clarifying why it happened in here, it should provide some reassurance that all the other artwork is fine, it was just a very poorly timed, one-off bit of bad luck on a trial run.
Worth mentioning that none of the other castles had this and he replaced the castle for day 2 that was not affected the same way. It really does seem like it was a last minute idea that went a bit wrong. Personally I would have rolled it back up, but it’s a hard call as an exhibitor and I suppose the hope was that he would be forgiven for the artwork if he could tell people what had happened and ask them to focus on the build - Which in truth was really very good!
Rodeo Sales
It did feel strange with Brian not at the show, especially on the Rodeo Sales stand. However, Kym feels like a very capable and safe pair of hands to be leading the team. She was extremely gracious and gave me and my family a small tour and even allowed me and my son a go on a rodeo bull.
Rodeo Sales are where I want to be. I’ve been saying it for too long really, but ideally I would going to the show and spending money with them. They have the exact type of product I want to be hiring. I really feel like they could help me break into something a little bigger with the products that they offer.
I love their particular rodeo bull - With the moulded head and horns it just feels safer rather than potentially having an eye out. I hadn’t realised just how difficult it is to ride one - I was concerned that it would be a huge queue with people riding for minutes at a time; But it seems pretty clear that you could have them going for ages in low periods and then when you’re busy you can basically have them off at any time you want.
The flight case games are the upmarket versions. They’re not particularly what I would want someone else to be staffing at a school event - They’re more black shoes, black trousers, white shirt and tie staffed service at a more corporate event.
I say it every year, but “next year”. Meanwhile I then expand on inflatables when I really should be looking at Rodeo Sales. I guess it’s easy to buy “one more bouncy castle”, you know it, it’s a safe bet and you know it will hire out - If it doesn’t then sell it on. When you’re looking at a drop catch game, a shuffle board or something like that, it feels very different and you worry if you have enough other items to match it. Will it go out on it’s own, do I rank well enough for it… The truth is, if you never pull the trigger it will never happen.
Perhaps a slow and gradual walk into starting with a buzz-wire is a safer bet - It’s incredibly universal and can fit any side of the hire, especially with a high striker too.
They really do have some fantastic equipment and it’s not like you have to get the whole lot all at once - I have a feeling though that once you’ve started buying from them it will be one of those things you say “Wish I had done it years ago”.
Donna Italia
This was cool to see someone new and an exhibitor that was an “add-on” to the industry. I would love to see more of these types at the next LSS.
They took a real chance with a stand - They aren’t really aiming at bouncy castle hire companies at all - They need static operators with a play centre or someone with premises.
The product is a pizza oven. It can cook two 9” pizzas together or one large one on it’s own.
Once the “oven” is pre-heated (which takes 15 minutes) you can cook a pizza from the fridge in 3 minutes or from frozen in 4 minutes.
This isn’t really the same as slapping a Chicago town Pizza in the microwave - The pizza that is genuinely cooked comes out tasting like a Pizza you eat at Pizza Express.
The “oven” looks fairly portable and the end result is really nice. You take the pizza out the wrapping (add toppings if you want to) and slap it in. It’s really easy to operate and looks kinda similar to the process you see at Sub-Way.
The issue for me is that you can’t buy the oven. You actually get the oven for “free”. You have to buy the Pizzas though and you only buy them from them.
You need to fill a quota of sales, otherwise they take the oven back. They seemed fairly flexible on the numbers when based over a year with monthly averages being fine (if you’re quiet in the summer but busier in the winter), but you still needed to sell (I think) 220 pizzas a month.
That’s a lot of Pizzas and you also have to buy theirs at their prices. I have seen similar models - It’s a common set-up with Slush machines at play centres, popcorn vending machines, lollipop machines etc. I knew a guy that got the slush machines for free, but had to buy their slush concentrate. At the time I was paying £10 for 5l concentrate delivered and he was locked in and paying £45 per 5l. - In the end he was fudging the numbers and doing half privately bought slush mix and half from them.
I don’t own fixed premises for a play centre so it’s not something I could do even if I wanted the product - And I do actually really like the product. I run enough events that this seems like a cool thing to have - But I’m not selling 220 of them a month. I’d rather buy the machine and source my own pizzas for my business.
Depending on the cost per Pizza, if you did own a play centre and didn’t have a fully functional kitchen or wasn’t allowed fryers and other equipment, then this could potentially fill a big hole. The pizza is legitimately tasty.
PIPA
Peter Grand is a regular at the shows and often representing PIPA. It was good to see him and I admire his commitment.
Having said that, it was very nice to see Gary Bonehill also at the stand - He’s never been that involved publicly before so it made somewhat of a statement to me that he believed in it enough to give up his time and it wasn’t just the same faces - It would be great to see an even broader mix next time so we could hear from different people regularly.
I say this with a pinch of salt, because I have been told the same thing for years and it never comes. Apparently PIPA are extending tagging to games. There was some wording that they used to make it clear it was games like dart boards and not gladiator duels, so it still wont be everything - But I can’t remember what the wording was. Non ride-on inflatable games or words to that affect - Basically axe-throws, shoot-outs, hooplas.. That kind of thing.
It’s supposed to be coming early next year, but I have heard that every year for several years and it’s never happened - So we will see; Although apparently they are starting to do the inspector course for it so it looks like this time more than any other it could actually be happening.
Soft Play and Games
First time exhibitor and no idea where they have come from. Normally I know the ins and outs of a fart and where it’s gone to, but these guys apparently used to sew for others as like an out-sourcing over-flow company and then decided to just do it themselves. - I normally know where they’ve come from and who they was working for, but it’s a genuine mystery to me.
I don’t disbelieve them either when they say they are experienced. I looked at the soft play and it’s genuinely well made. They are offering some of their own ideas - Mainly these really small blocks like bricks that come in a pack. - It’s a lot of sewing and man hours with little foam, so I do believe them when they say they’ve been doing this a while. Ideally for a soft play manufacturer they would sell enormous blocks with huge PVC covers and then just have a few straight lights of sewing - Smaller effort and sewing time and bigger sale prices due to large items. It’s the smaller things they normally dislike because it’s intricate and takes more time, but people perceive it as lower value. - Only someone with skill can easily get through something like a pack of 16 blocks quickly enough to make a profit on the price they’re selling them for and still looking pretty good.
With the soft play creation station not present, there was a gap this year for SEN softplay. While they didn’t have a huge range, what they did bring helped fill that gap to a degree. - They had some cool ideas and some well made SEN products.
It’s a shame that there isn’t really a market for SEN soft play hire - It tends to be home use and the LSS probably isn’t the right audience for that (yet). Everyone has a jungle set, multi-coloured set, Unicorn theme etc, but very very few people are offering a SEN set yet (myself included). Perhaps it is time this is picked up on and the market created for it, I’m sure there is enough demand.
They also had their own board games which were pretty exclusively made for parties and hire. I think they would hire pretty well and could well take off as add-ons, but I would be tempted to get something more versatile that could be re-used for other types of hire if I was investing on boards that take up space like that.
Interestingly they confirmed that they do all their own in-house printing. I really must find out where they have been hiding!
Wibble Jelly Games
Great to see a bigger stand this year. I like the owner very much and am drawn to him as he is clearly quite “techy” but in a practical way.
His games are all self contained in a flight case and most of them run off a Raspberry Pi (or variant there of). He writes the code for the games himself and it’s clearly a passion project for him.
It’s probably a tall order, but I would like to see him consistently bring out more of the games each show and have them as completed items. There is always a “coming soon” version, which is really just an unfinished version - Would be good to see completed projects and 2 new ones each show.
I almost feel like he enjoys the challenge to see what's posible and if he can prove that he can make it, then once that is achieved he wants to move onto something more interesting - The commercial side and having to sell things to fund his tinkering and curiousity is just an inconvenient nuisance that gets in his way. I absolutely love the passion, just needs a project manager and business partner to keep him thinking about the balance books, because the games are brilliant!
These are very affordable compared to some other electronic flight case games and would be a good way to start offering things outside of inflatables that you could market as corporate but also have at a school fete.
Raynes Baby World
This stand was hard to understand - Almost evasive. I originally thought it was Vortex’s pastel range section, but apparently it’s their own company - Although they are right next to Vortex and Vortex make the castles.
They are separate though - To prove it to me, they showed me the label on the inflatable that had their company name.
After trying to understand it and talking to them, they was willing to share that they import the material, but Vortex makes the inflatables for them. They then sell the inflatables as their own.
They apparently have a similar set-up with soft play with another manufacturer.
I would have thought it would be easier to sell the material exclusively if you have sole import contracts, rather than going to the effort of getting someone else to make it and then selling it with a mark-up (and all the nuisance of warranties being honours and if people need to send it back etc).
However, I suppose what they are trying to do is build a brand - Which I can kind of get, but it’s hard not to view them as a middle-man. It’s basically Vortex castles but in very specific pastel colours.
Having said that, the colours did look lovely and the build quality was actually great - It’s a testament to Liam at Vortex and a great display of his ability.
I really liked the look of the pastel range and think for the companies trying to make instagram packages for instagram parents, this would be where you looked first.
The ball pools where very big - far too big for me. But I think I understand what these packages are for. It’s not for getting out 10+ a day, it’s for getting out that single package that goes for £700 a hire, so adding 5 bags of pastel balls isn’t an issue because you’re focused on the aesthetic and the photograph, the right filter and the lighting rather than worrying about pick-up times being back-to-back and the amount of balls you need to collect.
There’s definitely a market for this type of product, I just wonder about it’s longevity and keeping it clean of face paint and scuffs.
Euromatic
Hard to say much here really. They’re nice people, they suffered a little bit with stand placement and I nearly over-looked them completely. They sell good balls and had a ball picker-up thing for stragglers on the floor. Probably a gimmick but I am so desperate for a solution that I'm willing try anything and bought one.
Wish I had more to say, but basically they sell really good commercial balls and the prices are very competitive, especially with show prices. Bigger colour range than ever before and very friendly people.
Summary
When I set out for the show, I did imagine it would be a little underwhelming this year. I thought that if it was going to be any good at all, it would be despite itself rather than because of it. I stayed publicly optimistic but privately didn’t hold out too much hope. - I was wrong, I underestimated Luke’s ability to pull a good crowd and the exhibitors all put on a very good show with some new people that had different things on display. I thought that the bad weather this year, coupled with a cost of living crisis would have people hoarding their penny’s at home - That wasn’t the case.
It was a show well worth going to and one that managed to surprise on several levels - From new exhibitors and ideas to existing and show regulars that came with huge amounts of new designs. I also spent a little time talking with the organisers and am pleased to hear about their ambitious plans for next year - Filling the upper stands and making it bigger than it ever has been.
A great first show for the new LSS organiser with improvements made on previous years and bigger plans for next year, too. A lofty achievement and job well done.
Spencer Elliott
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