It’s child’s play for founder of WGY

LEISURE and property entrepreneur Wayne Gardner-Young is planning to roll out a chain of children’s play centres after opening his first in West Lothian.

The self-made millionaire, founder of the WGY Group, invested £250,000 and created 15 jobs with the launch of Overboard in Polbeth, near Livingston, after spotting a void in childrens’ recreation facilities in the area. Now he’s looking for other sites, with Loch Lomond on his list of potential venues.

He said: “Following the closure of another play centre, families in West Lothian were left looking for a safe alternative. At the same time, one of my factory units was laying empty in the Daks Industrial Estate, so I thought, why not fix this?”

He has a fully trained staff in childcare and launched the centre with a Facebook campaign offering the first 100 customers free entry.

“The social media campaign was extremely successful. On the day of the launch people were queuing to get the first glimpse of what we had created, so we had no problem filling the first 100 spaces.

“I am a father of three, so I know how frustrating it can be to find somewhere suitable to take the kids at the weekend. It’s great to be able to bring jobs to the area, as well as add to West Lothian’s community offering.”

WGY Group, established in 1993, includes a construction firm with 180 employees, a £70 million commercial property portfolio, hotels, nightclubs and residential rental properties.

Among its assets is the Azure nightclub in Glasgow – formerly Victoria’s – the Buchanan Arms Hotel in Drymen and the Kaim Park Hotel in West Lothian.

Windsor-born Gardner-Young has numerous projects on the go, among them a £22m theme park in West Lothian and a similar sized theme park in Loch Lomond with hotel, cafes and restaurants, alongside a five-star touring caravan site with a spa, holiday apartments and lodges.

He moved to Scotland when his father set up an engineering company in West Calder.