Playdale Playgrounds was delighted to welcome BBC Breakfast to their head office factory and offices, during the morning of Friday 10th May.
Their outside broadcast business news film crew arrived at the site in Haverthwaite near Ulverston at 5.00am and live broadcasts from the playground equipment manufacturing business featured a number of times throughout the course of the three hour morning news programme.
BBC Breakfast Business News presenter Nina Warhurst toured the factory and spoke to Playdale’s MD Barry Leahey MBE about how British manufacturing is on the up, in particular with regards to exported goods. Playdale’s hugely successful export mission began seven years ago and they are now a growing global business covering 49 countries.
Nina asked Barry how their preparations for (the now postponed) Brexit during the first quarter of 2019 had affected the business. Barry explained that as 50% of Playdale’s manufactured goods are shipped abroad there was a certain amount of additional stock coverage that needed to take place. Any delays at ports was not an option. This was part of Playdale’s Brexit action plan and a practical measure they had to take to ensure they continued to deliver excellent customer service, at home and abroad.
The added pressure on the business due to the increased stock levels has, however, resulted in an improved performance during 2019, to date. May is set to be a record month for output at Playdale.
Gill Haigh, Managing Director of Cumbria Tourism along with Kay Neufeld, Head of Macroeconomics at the Centre For Economics and Business Research joined Team Playdale to chat to Nina about the wider impact of Brexit on one of the region’s biggest industries, tourism, the importance of business investment and the UK’s GDP.
