Wonderland pair's new venture

The owners of one of Shropshire's most successful family visitor attractions, Wonderland in Telford Town Park, have bought giant children's play centre Roaries.

Belinda and Andy Griffiths have unveiled exciting plans to upgrade the complex at Trench Lock, Telford, pumping £80,000 into an ambitious revamp.The name will change to Jungleland, which the husband-and-wife team see as an extension of the Wonderland brand. Roarie the lion will, however, remain as the attraction's central theme character.

Fresh attractions will include a Safari train ride, car track and roller blade area. There are also plans for a new play area for babies and toddlers, a children's hairdresser's and make-up service which can also cater for the growing trend in girls' pamper parties, and a revamped café serving higher quality food and drink. There will be a shop – The Trading Post – offering a wide range of gifts with nothing priced over £10. And there will be a kids' party area with UV lighting.

The changes are due to be completed by Easter.

There are also plans to enlarge the car park to cater for an expected increase in visitor numbers to the centre.

Longer-term projects include an after-school club run by fully-qualified staff, which Belinda hopes could be up and running by the summer holidays.

In the meantime the attraction is open for business from 10am to 6pm on weekdays, except Tuesday, and from 10am to 6.30pm at weekends.

Belinda believes Roaries, which is only three years old, has tremendous potential and was a perfect business fit with Wonderland.

"With one being outdoor and the other indoor, they should complement each other very well. We have great staff who are flexible enough to work between the two. In poor weather we will get fewer visitors to Wonderland and we can switch staff to Jungleland, where we are likely to get more visitors. Alternatively, on hot, sunny days, there are likely to be fewer visitors at Jungleland and we can switch staff up to Wonderland," she says.

"We think we have some great ideas to refresh Roaries. The hairdresser's, which will be called Tarzan and Jane's, could be a real success. There will be a business opportunuty for someone to come in and run that and anyone who is interested should get in touch."

Belinda says she and Andy were approached to buy Roaries by the previous owner, with whom they had developed friendly and mutually supportive relations.

Their success with Wonderland persuaded them they could make a go of their new venture.

The couple took over the Telford Town Park attraction from Belinda's father, Dennis Roud, nine years ago and have built on his early successes. Dennis is still involved in the business, which he started 18 years ago, but is happy to take a back seat.

It was attracting 40,000 visitors a year when Dennis handed over the reins – now it is 110,000. There are 15 full-time staff but the payroll can rise to 50 at peak seasons.

Roaries, which has 15 part-time staff, is currently bringing in 50,000 children a year and Belinda is confident they can build on that figure.

"I intend running Jungleland and being very hands-on. It is vital with an attraction like this that you are on site as much as you can be to deal with things on a day-to-day basis. Andy will continue to run Wonderland," she added.

With the success of Wonderland Andy and Belinda, who have a son and daughter themselves, have clearly tapped into what families want. Now they hope their vision for Jungleland will be equally successful.