18 Years of Play Fitness. Growing, Investing and Looking Ahead

Today, the 19th August, Play Fitness celebrates 18 years in business.

Eighteen years of designing, supplying and installing playgrounds, outdoor fitness equipment and recreational spaces.

It’s a milestone we’re incredibly proud of. While it’s a great opportunity to look back at how far we’ve come, we’re also looking ahead at how Play Fitness can continue to grow, develop and offer even more to our customers and partners.

Continuing to invest in Play Fitness

Over the past year, we’ve continued to invest in our equipment, skills and capabilities.

One of our biggest investments has been a new CNC machine, giving us greater control over our manufacturing processes and allowing us to produce components with increased precision and flexibility.

We’ve also invested in our own compaction plate and mixer, allowing us to take more of our wet-pour installation work in-house rather than relying on external contractors.

These investments are about more than simply adding new machinery. They give us greater control over our projects, help us develop our capabilities and allow us to continue improving the service we provide.

Supporting schools and developing new solutions

Schools continue to be a huge part of what we do at Play Fitness, and over the past year we’ve been looking at new ways to help schools make the most of their outdoor spaces.

One of the most exciting developments has been Portakourt, a modular outdoor sports solution developed specifically with schools in mind.

Portakourt is designed and manufactured in-house by our team and provides schools with a flexible way to create an active outdoor sports space without the need for a permanent sports facility.

Developing Portakourt has been a great example of listening to the challenges schools face and looking for practical solutions. We’re proud to have taken the idea from development through to a finished product that we can now supply to schools.

Creating more inclusive spaces

Inclusive play has also continued to be an important part of our work.

Over the past year, we’ve installed more inclusive equipment into playgrounds, helping to create spaces that can be enjoyed by a wider range of children and young people.

For us, inclusive play is about more than individual pieces of equipment. It’s about creating spaces where children can move, explore, interact and play in different ways.

Our recent Foxden project is a great example. We completed the full groundworks and landscaping alongside the installation of the new equipment, creating a welcoming outdoor space designed for play, exploration and relaxation.

Working with councils to improve local parks

We’ve continued to work closely with councils and local authorities to upgrade and improve existing parks and outdoor spaces.

From refurbishing well-loved local playgrounds to introducing new inclusive equipment, safety surfacing and play features, these projects can breathe new life into spaces that are already an important part of their communities.

We’re proud to work alongside councils and parish councils to help create outdoor environments that encourage activity, social interaction and community use.

Growing our business-to-business partnerships

While schools, councils and local authorities remain an important part of Play Fitness, one of our aims for the future is to grow our business-to-business offering and develop relationships with more companies across the industry.

We want to work with more playground companies, contractors, landscapers, developers and other businesses looking for reliable equipment, products and installation support.

Our continued investment in manufacturing and installation capabilities means we're increasingly able to offer more to trade partners and support projects from equipment supply through to installation.

We’re already developing partnerships beyond our traditional customer base. We’re continuing our relationship with a company in France, while we’ve also recently taken an exciting new step with an overseas partner.

We can’t say too much about that partnership just yet, but we’ve granted exclusive rights to our equipment to a company in a new international market.

It’s an exciting development for Play Fitness and something we hope to be able to share more about very soon.

18 years - and the next chapter

Reaching 18 years is a fantastic milestone, but it certainly doesn’t feel like we’re slowing down.

If anything, we’re looking at more ways to develop the business, invest in our capabilities and build new relationships.

We’ll continue developing our equipment, creating more inclusive play opportunities, working with schools, councils and communities to improve outdoor spaces and building partnerships with businesses both here in the UK and further afield.

Most importantly, we’ll continue doing what we’ve always believed in: creating outdoor spaces that encourage people to play, move, explore and enjoy being outside.

Thank you

We wouldn’t have reached 18 years without the people and organisations we’ve had the pleasure of working with along the way.

A huge thank you to all the schools, councils, parish councils, contractors, suppliers, customers and partners who have trusted Play Fitness with their projects and supported us over the years.

We’re incredibly grateful for the relationships we’ve built and the opportunities we’ve been given to help improve outdoor spaces across the UK and beyond.

And, of course, a huge thank you to the Play Fitness team, whose hard work has helped make all of this possible.

18 years is a fantastic milestone, but we’re excited about what comes next.

Here’s to the next chapter. 🎉