Emily's Playroom impresses Larne Business Excellence Awards 2022 judges

Emily's Playroom at Ledcom on Bank Road, was established to fill a gap in the market within the Larne town area where adults and young children could relax and have fun in a safe environment. As a ‘meet and play’ facility, it is aimed at parents of children aged up to 12 years living in the Larne and surrounding areas, as well as schools and childminders who may bring groups of children.

The facility offers a range of role-play areas to encourage children's immagination and understanding of everyday life - including a construction site, house area; dressing room and kitchen, town area; coffee shop, pizzeria, diner, market and ice cream stall. There’s also have a quiet reading corner space and a small soft play area for younger children.

The soft play area for small and older toddlers is a firm favourite, as parents and care-givers can get involved with the play, or simply just be close to provide extra comfort for the little ones.

Emily’s Playroom most unique selling point is that it offers a safe, relaxing space for adults to unwind, whilst still having the ability to watch and see their children play in a fun and uncrowded space. There’s also a coffee shop, with enough seating for up to 16 adults, offering a full range of hot and cold drinks as well as snacks.

A maximum of 12 children is allowed in each of the sessions, which allows children to flourish and explore their imagination with the role play environment and ability to interact with other children their own age.

There are many ideas for growing this new business, providing plans for much more than is being currently offered. These include a bigger space, providing more role play areas and entertainment for the children; providing food and more snack options and supporting more local businesses. There are also hopes that more job opportunities could be offered to the people of Larne and surrounding areas.