Award-winning South West multi-site indoor play operators, and Regency member, Family Adventurers Group has recently secured a £5m private equity investment from Foresight Group which will allow the group to grow significantly within the South-West and Midlands indoor play and childcare markets.

Founded by husband and wife Team, Tom and Laura Filer, the company’s innovative indoor adventure leisure offering provides a mixture of digitalised soft plays and creative role-play. The newest site, to be named 'Little Town Adventures' is set to open in Spring 2024 and will focus heavily on role play, with the creation of a miniaturised beach shorefront providing children with the opportunity to enjoy any number of adventures and creations.

The Foresight-backed expansion plans are expected to see Family Adventures Group create up to 140 skilled jobs per year. This growth strategy will also address the growing need within the South West and Midlands regions for increased provision for early years childcare where there are currently not enough places to meet demand.

Nick Mettyear, Senior Investment Manager at Foresight Group, said:

“Tom and Laura have created an exciting business model that shows real potential for growth. The team are targeting areas where there has been a chronic shortage of quality early years education options and will provide an excellent alternative to parents.

The imaginative playscapes in the leisure sites will also bring a new approach to educational and interactive play which will be enjoyable for all children from 2-12. Foresight is looking forward to supporting Tom and Laura on this journey.”

Tom Filer, CEO of Family Adventures Group, added:

“We’re proud of the growth we have been able to achieve since starting in 2019, creating high-quality childcare and leisure venues. The whole team is delighted to have investment from Foresight into our company to allow us to turbocharge our growth.

From the moment we met with their team, we knew they were the perfect partner due to the shared values we have around ESG and growing with purpose. We couldn’t be more delighted to be working with Foresight Group.”

Talking in more detail about the new venture, Co-founder, Laura Filer explained:

"We could not be more excited to be launching our next innovative leisure venue in Weston-super-Mare and are this time bringing a world-first play concept to market following the success of our multi-award-winning Ocean and Space Adventurers venues.

"The combination of role play, theatre, and escape room-style activities enhances cognitive development, social skills, and creativity, making it an exciting, truly holistic and educational adventure for children.

"Little Town Adventures will be an innovative fully immersive miniature Weston-super-Mare putting learning and fun at the centre of the experience."

In more good news for the group, Family Adventurers recently took home three awards at the prestigious Somerset Business Awards this month. The business won Medium Business of the Year, Business Resilience and Growth and the Service Excellence awards, becoming the first business in the award's 19-year history to be award three awards.

Laura commented:

"We owe these awards to our teams. The work that our teams do every single day to support children and families cannot be underestimated. They are all super heroes and we are beyond grateful to every single team member and to our customers who support us.

We couldn’t be more proud of these awards and of our whole team."

On behalf of the entire team at Regency, we'd like to congratulate Tom, Laura and the Family Adventurers teams on their amazing achievements and exciting expansions plans. We're looking forward to continuing to support such an innovative and forward-thinking business as it continues to go from strength to strength.