28/02/2022

Barracudas latest years

It’s been an incredible 30 years at Barracudas and we’re excited to be entering our 3rd decade of providing outstanding childcare and amazing experiences for children in the school holidays.

A challenging time

The last couple of years have certainly been a challenging time with COVID 19 having had a huge impact on us all. Activity camps were no exception and we worked hard to act responsibly, delivering amazing experiences whilst keeping families safe.

We were heartbroken that we couldn’t operate our activity camps in 2020 because of the pandemic. Our priority is the safety of children when they’re in our care and we just couldn’t deliver the amazing experience kids expect and still protect them from COVID. We did what we could do to help during this time with our free Virtual Camps, offering fun and engaging activities for children to do at home, but we know it’s not the same! Thankfully we were able to open our doors again in 2021 and were delighted to have had our biggest year ever!

With the lockdowns affecting children’s mental and physical health, we knew how important it was that we could offer our camps in the school holidays. Camps provided a great opportunity for children to enjoy a sense of normality, reconnecting with their peers and benefitting from being active and having new experiences.

Stepping up to the mark

Our team has pulled together to make sure we’re on top of the game and able to deliver fun experiences and operating safely in this challenging environment. Right from the start it was our priority to keep families safe and do the right thing.

Necessity is the mother of invention and we were first off the mark to be able to offer truly contactless check in 2021. Parents could now check their children in and out of camp with unique QR codes delivered directly to them with their booking confirmation. Our staff would scan these at camp meaning there was no direct contact with parents and staff.

It’s our aim to offer the best experience for parents and so we also introduced our new parent app in 2021. Offering easy access to check bookings, complete pre-camp forms, get directions to camp as well as access contactless registration details and a handy pre camp checklist. This was an industry first and we were pleased to refine the experience through the year.

It wasn’t just our booking and tech systems that required close attention. We developed our 4P’s COVID policy to ensure that we were operating at the highest standards, following the latest government guidance and keeping our children and staff as safe as possible.

The biggest year ever!

In February last year, whilst we weren’t permitted to operate our camps in full, we were pleased to be able to offer activities for children of keyworkers in Cambridge working with our host school venue to offer places at highly reduced prices.

Thankfully, we were able to open our Easter and summer camps last year according to the government guidance. We also had more October half term camps than ever before. Through these challenging times, we were thrilled to have had our biggest year ever at Barracudas, with more camp weeks and children than we’ve had before. We understand the demand was higher than ever as holidays were cancelled and children craved activity and socialising. Our teams worked hard behind the scenes throughout the year to make sure we delivered the best experiences at a time when kids needed it the most!

Always developing

There have been plenty of learnings over the last 3 decades. The activity camp environment has become more sophisticated and our business has developed alongside a huge advancement in technology too.

Over the years we had to keep to our defining values of communication, fun, innovation, personal development, professionalism and teamwork so our growth didn’t compromise our quality and now this is just part of our DNA.

Barracudas has had a relentless focus on the quality of the camp experience since we started up way back when. Our first camps offered kids new activities they’d never had the chance to try and we continue to review and innovate our offering so each year kids can’t wait to come back.

Barracudas is constantly pushing the barriers to make sure we’re not only offering the best experience at camp but also the best customer experience for our bookers. From new booking systems, to improving communication methods and always offering the best activities for kids at camp. It’s all about our principal values!

We’re looking forward to continuing our journey with you and keeping kids active, entertained and developing in the school holidays.

Read Part 1 - The Vision, Part 2 - Starting Out, Part 3 - Growing Up and Part 4 - Bigger Fish if you missed them! To find out what's coming next read the final instalment, Part 6 - The Future's Bright!