Interview: Narinder Singh Baryah, MD of Glasgow-based soft play specialist Wonderworld Group

Leisure park entrepreneur hails group’s buoyant growth – but says industry is “certainly not all child’s play”.

Narinder Singh Baryah is MD of Wonderworld Group, which says it is Scotland's largest soft play entertainment provider, with the entrepreneur having previously held various senior roles in financial services, but “always had an interest in working in industry, having been brought up in a family business environment”. The Glasgow-based company’s portfolio of entertainment brands includes Wonderworld Soft Play, which has centres across Scotland, and the group says it has welcomed more than four million visitors since launching a decade ago. In October of this year it flagged expansion south of the Border and said its revenue was set to exceed £13 million for the current financial year.

Wonderworld Group has this year celebrated its tenth anniversary, how key is this milestone, and can you summarise the brand and broader group's progress to date including the importance of introducing new experiences?

It’s particularly special because we have survived a decade in business, and I’m very proud of how we navigated the pandemic, which involved 17 months of closure. More impressively, we were able to galvanise a new team to thrive after we reopened the entire business in July 2021. Our estate includes six Wonderworld sites across Scotland, plus one [adventure golf and arcade offering] Electric Thrill and five [inflatable and trampoline park] Air Thrill sites, including one in London. Progress has been swift and steady with three of these being added within the last 24 months and we’re leaning more into bespoke designs by introducing a greater variety of activities in terms of physical challenge, which has undoubtedly aided our progress within the sector.

We have survived a decade in business, and I’m very proud of how we navigated the pandemic, says Narinder Singh Baryah. Picture: contributed.

Wonderworld Group recently announced that it was expanding into England, can you give more details on this, and what are your longer-term expansion plans for this brand and the group as a whole?

From a geographical coverage perspective, it makes sense to consider the North of England as a natural next step, but it depends on key factors like the location, size of venue, and, of course, the extent of the opportunity. We have some tentative sites in England at various stages of discussion, and our longer-term aim is to have national coverage extending into the North of England, the Midlands and into the West Country. We know what works in terms of the range of activities, and believe we can achieve this nationally by working with our trusted project team, which includes designers, equipment manufacturers, and building contractors.

How have you navigated the pandemic and ongoing cost-of-living crisis?

We took the brave and bold decision during the pandemic to acquire new sites with the support of our bank and to refurb most of our existing estate. We had to completely modernise the business by moving to an online booking system and introducing cleaning periods between each session. Despite the obvious challenges of Covid, it has had benefits; in terms of our booking process, the efficiency of our operations, and using it as a benchmark for maintaining standards of cleanliness and delivering excellence.

The MD with some of his team celebrating the group's tenth anniversary. Picture: contributed.

In my opinion, the cost-of-living crisis has been more challenging to navigate. We have tried to remain competitive in terms of price, but have simultaneously been impacted by inflationary pressures such as purchasing costs, increased wages, further utility price rises and, of course, interest rate hikes. Despite these challenges, our customer numbers have remained resilient.

Wonderworld Group recently raised money for Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity, how important to you is giving back to the community?

We collaborate with several organisations who support Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity and it’s an immense privilege to support such a worthy cause. Being involved in a sector that caters for children means that we get to see first-hand the positive impact of this partnership.

We also host private events for children as part of this, and this allows them to enjoy themselves in an environment that is designed specifically for children as it allows them to have a change of environment from their usual surroundings. We have partnered with the charity for many years and take great pride in this relationship.

How important are your facilities when children are being encouraged to be more active and spend less time on digital devices?

There are many studies that show children benefit greatly from soft play and active leisure from an early age. Not only is it great physical activity, it also promotes important social skills such as interaction with other children and tolerance. This was also acutely apparent post-Covid when many parents experienced the impact of isolation on their children’s mental health. We provide a range of safe and exciting indoor activities across the group for families of all ages, and there is also a sociable element of participating as a family too. We believe our sector plays an important role in helping parents steer their children away from addictive technology for a few hours, and we’re seeing more and more adults also take this approach at our AirThrill venues too.

Why did you make the career switch into what sounds like a more fun sector than financial services?

I came from a legal background initially and then spent 20 years in financial services working in Lloyds Bank, Clydesdale Bank and latterly Santander, where I looked after several leisure clients, so I had a good understanding of some of the metrics by which leisure operators measure their success, and was very fortunate to have a great network of people to ask for advice in terms of ex-colleagues, clients, and advisers.

A career in finance gives you an excellent grounding in compliance, which transfers to some of the regulatory aspects that impact our industry, and this is becoming more prevalent as the sector evolves. Although the business is certainly less corporate than my previous roles, it very much has its day-to-day challenges and pressures, so it's certainly not all child’s play!