Our recent webinar brought together Stuart Lee (Atlas Mapping) and Michael McVerry (Buzz Education) to share practical strategies for children’s activity businesses looking to grow through smarter data mapping and more effective marketing to schools.
Stuart Lee demonstrated how Atlas Mapping’s Vision software helps children’s activity providers and franchise owners:
Analyse local population and family demographics
Understand customer catchment areas
Identify high-value territories and markets
Predict revenue potential using real data
He highlighted current UK population trends—including an ageing population and immigration-driven growth—showing why data-led territory planning is more important than ever.
Stuart also shared how tools like Sonar segmentation help identify affluent family areas and reveal where your ideal customers live.
Stuart outlined a simple framework for evaluating new markets:
Calculate market size
Map competition
Identify target customer segments
Analyse postcode-level opportunities
Estimate market penetration and revenue
This approach helps children’s activity businesses make confident, informed decisions about where to operate and how to grow.
In the second half of the webinar, Michael McVerry explored how to improve communication with schools—an essential but often challenging audience for children’s activity providers.
Top school marketing tips:
Send emails early morning, or during school breaks
Personalise messages for teachers and leaders
Focus on benefits to schools, not just product features
Maintain consistent but non-intrusive communication
Build long-term relationships, not quick sales
Michael emphasised that schools face budget pressures, staff shortages, and heavy workloads—so marketers must be patient, empathetic, and genuinely helpful.
Combining data-driven location analysis with strategic school marketing allows children’s activity companies to:
Choose the right territories and markets
Improve customer targeting
Build stronger school partnerships
Increase revenue opportunities
Grow sustainably across regions
These strategies are essential for franchises and activity providers wanting to stay competitive in a changing market.