Background

Monkey Bizness, a company setting up children's soft play centres all around the country. They have nine sites now from the South Coast, to Sheffield and Hull, and two centres in Scotland, and they're growing fast. Their most recent centre was in Eastleigh near Southampton.  The soft play centres offer a cafe venue for parents to relax and enjoy a coffee while their young children have fun.

 "We saw a big opportunity so five years ago we opened our first centre in Lewes, just outside Brighton. We've got nine sites now and we're about to open our 10^th. Our aim is to have 25 all across the UK."

Jason first found Pelican via the Play Providers Association (PPA) three years ago, and identified that they could find good savings for him.  As well as the soft play, the centres provide a restaurant serving healthy food for all the family, and Jason began using Pelican for his catering supplies. But when he came to open his next centre he wondered whether he could also make savings on his kitchen and restaurant equipment. "We didn't know for a while that Pelican could supply the catering equipment as well, but when we found out we were keen to see how they could help us," he says.

The right design.  The right equipment.

Keith Palmer is Pelican's Equipment Manager, he was able to lend his expertise to get Monkey Bizness the right design and equipment for their needs. Keith says, "One of the good things with Monkey Bizness is we have a close relationship with them which means we understand their business. We're able to interpret their equipment requirements accurately, so when it comes to purchasing we know what they need."

For Jason it made sense, particularly because time is always of the essence when Monkey Bizness go into a new location. "We're opening three or four new centres a year," says Jason, "and we have to keep to a tight schedule. When we go into a new unit we have about three months to fit them out and the kitchen is one of the most important features. We need a reliable distributor who can react quickly to our needs and issues. Keith came down and had a look at one of our kitchens, and the units are very similar wherever we go. We had the plans of the new kitchen and then I passed it over to him and he liaised with the developer directly."

One-stop-shop

Pelican prides itself on the level of service they provide, and their customer satisfaction is high. This was certainly true when it came to working with Jason. Keith says, "We were able to offer Monkey Bizness a 'one stop shop' for their outfit, from design to installation and then following up with an after-sales service that we believe is exceptional. We were able to save them a lot of time on sourcing their equipment, and we can get them a good deal on every piece of catering equipment they purchase through us."

Jason has been happy with the products Keith sourced for him. "It's good, strong, commercial equipment," he says. And just as purchasing with Pelican suppliers for produce can earn members big savings, the same is true for catering equipment and furniture purchases. "By using Pelican services for the tendering and purchasing process, we were able to save the customer a substantial amount," says Keith.

 "We've found them to be very competitive on pricing," says Jason. "It's a good quality service and if there are ever any issues they jump straight on it. We've been very impressed with them and we can't speak highly enough of them," he nods.

To find out more about Monkey Bizness visit www.monkey-bizness.co.uk.

"We've been very impressed with them and we can't speak highly enough of them."

Jason Ward - Director
Monkey Bizness