A north Cornwall playground company has launched a new range of outdoor play equipment for pre-school children, after securing a funding package of £323k.
Schoolscapes, based in Wadebridge, designs play spaces and makes bespoke equipment for schools, nurseries, youth centres and family holiday venues around the UK. A recent loan of £238k from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking has allowed the company to buy and customise premises on the Dunveth Business Park.
The business also secured a £85k hire purchase facility to buy new IT equipment to streamline its admin processes, freeing up time to look into new business opportunities. The funding has also supported the purchase of new equipment for the workshop, which will allow more elements of the production process to be brought in-house.
CEO, Chris Leavold, said: “When our business started in 1996, our main service was school landscape design, but that soon expanded to include playground planning. We were providing comprehensive plans for outdoor learning and play spaces, and recommending companies our customers could source the equipment from. Eventually we thought about making it ourselves.
“We then moved into play equipment design and manufacture, and the business has been expanding steadily ever since. The latest funding package from Lloyds will help us continue to grow at a sustainable rate.”
