As the number one school playground specialist, Pentagon Play (Pentagon) is an award-winning designer of both outdoor and indoor learning environments and is trusted by hundreds of schools and nurseries nationwide. We learn more from Andy Snell as it succeeds in the Northern Enterprise Awards 2023. Best School Playground Specialists 2023 & Most Innovative School & Nursery Playground Design & Installations Company 2023 Established more than 25 years ago, Pentagon Play is the UK’s leading school playground equipment provider. During that time, the company has worked with nurseries, primary and secondary schools, Special Educational Needs facilities, Multi-Academy Trusts, holiday parks and leisure facilities, and has improved educational play environments for an estimated four million children since its initial inception, adhering to its mission of ‘improving children’s lives today, to shape happier and healthier adults tomorrow’. “At Pentagon Play, the children come before anything else,” explains Founder, Andy Snell. “Our main ambition is to ensure that all children, no matter their age, ability, or economic background, have access to an engaging learning environment to support their growth and development.” To this end, Pentagon Play strives to design innovative products in line with the primary curriculum, install safe and engaging learning environments, and promote fun learning through play culture. Working across all markets, the firm collaborates closely with all customers to ensure that the environments created offer opportunities for all pupils, giving them a space to learn and grow. “We stand out from our competitors through the quality of our products,” Andy elaborates, telling us what differentiates the company. “Nearly every item we create is handcrafted onsite by a team of qualified joiners, the majority of whom have gained their qualifications onsite with us.” The dedicated team of qualified product designers and workshop assemblers use the educational curriculum to design and assemble fantastically engaging products for pupils to use, with each product being designed with care and consideration of the best ways in which they can support children. Constantly growing and learning, the team is committed to improving learning spaces across the UK, working with schools to discover the gaps in the market and the educational needs. It is, therefore, imperative that the internal culture at Pentagon Play is one of unity, with all staff members singing from the same hymn sheet and striving for the same overall result. Andy tells us that the firm operates its core values following the PEACHI strategy, these being: Positivity, Empathy, Adaptability, Collaboration, Honesty, and Innovation. Pentagon Play is also dedicated to investing in people and has many success stories with its apprentice and graduate programmes. Many apprentices have progressed through the business with the majority now in senior positions or experts in a certain field within the industry. Currently, the company has seven apprentices across both its north and south operations and it recently had six apprentices qualify with a clear progression plan in place to move further through the business. “At Pentagon, we greatly value progression and growth,” Andy enthuses. “Many of those that started with us as apprentices have developed into permanent employees, with a clear career plan ahead of them and greater responsibility.” This development in its team members not only ensures that many remain loyal employees, but that they fully understand the business and its operations – something which is much needed as the company is currently experiencing a period of growth. Over the last two years alone, the firm has developed, improved, and brought into production 147 products in total. Pentagon Play’s expansion into the indoor market means it has a whole new range of opportunities for improving the lives of even more children across the UK, and there is now a dedicated designer focused on working with the manufacturing team to create versatile and flexible indoor solutions. Furthermore, the firm’s web shop, which launched in 2021, has enabled it to reach out to more schools with smaller budgets and has opened the door to nurseries and childminders across the UK. In fact, its second year saw a turnover of £600,000 and Andy now has a vision to grow the web shop division to £5m by the financial year 2026. “In addition, we recently began working with our first holiday park, a previously untapped market for Pentagon Play,” he tells us. “Having worked primarily in educational environments, we have huge scope for expansion in this market. 60% of all holiday parks across the UK provide an outdoor playground for their guests, so this is an incredibly lucrative market.” Recently, for its commitment to the industry, Pentagon Play was bestowed with not one but two notable accolades in the Northern Enterprise Awards, these being Best School Playground Specialists 2023, and Most Innovative School & Nursery Playground Design & Installations Company 2023, respectively. Now, Andy tells us that the department is looking at expanding into third-party manufacturing, offering its skills, abilities, and products to the wider market. “Focused planning, process improvements, and integration of further machinery into the department will enable growth,” he finalises. “The aim is to add machinery where it can aid in efficiency and productivity but keep the people in their roles specialising them accordingly. “We will continue in our role as number one playground specialist and with our mission to improve children’s lives today, to shape happier and healthier grown-ups tomorrow!” Contact Details Email Address: [email protected] Company: Pentagon Play Web Address: www.pentagonplay.co.uk Pentagon Play
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