Everyday Play is celebrating its 10th anniversary, marking a decade since founders Luke and Lewis began the business from a garden office in Maidstone with a small team, big ambitions and a belief that play spaces could be so much more than a collection of equipment.
Originally known as L&L Creative Spaces, the business has grown significantly since those early days.
Today, Everyday Play has its own in-house design team, manufacturing workshop and a growing team of designers, craftsmen, installers and playground specialists creating bespoke play spaces for schools, parks, attractions and communities across the UK.
The company established its in-house design team in 2018, before opening its own manufacturing workshop in Bedford in 2023. In 2024, L&L became Everyday Play, reflecting how the company and its ambitions had developed, before moving into new offices in Biddenden later that year.
The same year also brought industry recognition, with Everyday Play winning Best Stand Award at The Education People Show, celebrating the creativity, design and craftsmanship that have become such an important part of the business.
But while the business has changed considerably, its purpose has remained the same, building brighter futures through play.
Over the past decade, Everyday Play has worked with schools, nurseries and organisations across the country to transform outdoor spaces into places where children can run, climb, explore, imagine and, most importantly, play.
A major part of the company’s growth has been bringing the entire process in-house. An idea can begin as a conversation or drawing, move through Everyday Play’s own design team and then into its Bedford workshop, where its craftsmen turn the concept into reality, before the company’s installation teams complete the project on site.
Keeping design, manufacture and installation within its own teams has also given Everyday Play the freedom to create increasingly imaginative and bespoke projects. From traditional school playgrounds and climbing equipment to life-sized safari jeeps, boats, themed structures and large-scale adventure play, no two projects need to be the same.
The company’s work also includes sensory gardens and inclusive play spaces for SEN schools, designed to give children with a wide range of needs and abilities meaningful opportunities to explore, interact and enjoy the outdoors.
For the team, creating these spaces is about much more than equipment. Play gives children opportunities to be active, develop physical skills, build confidence, solve problems, use their imaginations and form friendships. Inclusive and sensory environments can also provide different ways for children to engage with their surroundings, helping make play more accessible to everyone.
Luke and Lewis said: “Ten years ago, we were working from a garden office with a small team and some pretty big ideas. To look at the business today and see our own designers, workshop, craftsmen and installation teams taking a project from the first drawing all the way through to children playing on it is something we’re incredibly proud of.
“We love the fact that no two projects have to be the same. One week we might be creating a new playground for a school or nursery, and the next we could be building a sensory space or turning a completely bespoke idea into something that has never been built before.
“But the best part is always seeing the finished space being used. Knowing that something our team has designed and built is encouraging children to get outside, be active, explore, make friends and enjoy playing is what it’s all about.
“We’re hugely grateful to our team, our customers and everyone who has supported us over the last ten years. We’ve come a long way, but there are still plenty of big ideas to come.”
Over the years, that creativity has led to an increasingly diverse portfolio of projects, from everyday school and nursery play spaces to ambitious bespoke builds for visitor attractions.
At Wingham Wildlife Park, for example, Everyday Play has created towers, tunnels, slides, a huge castle-themed climbing structure, mini golf and individual bespoke pieces including a safari jeep, boat and TukTuk.
Alongside its commercial work, the company has continued to support its local community, including sponsoring grassroots football and donating playground equipment to schools to help more children access quality opportunities for play.
As Everyday Play enters its second decade, the company plans to continue growing while holding on to the creativity, craftsmanship and personal approach that started in that garden office ten years ago.
