2024 Rugged Recap

2024 Rugged Recap

What a year!

As the world of interactive play keeps moving, Rugged has had another busy year of exciting projects, events, collaborations, and team growth.

To celebrate 2024’s achievements and go into 2025 having reflected on our achievements and hard work, we have put together a recap of what we’ve all been up to.

 

Brand New 'About Us' Video and Website Launched

Who are we? What do we stand for? Where do we sell into? As we grow, it’s important that new customers, partners and markets understand what we offer and how we can help them. We worked with Idenna to produce an up-to-date ‘About Us’ video that really captures where Rugged came from, what we’re all about, and our plans for the future.

New Website Launched

Although we work across a number of different sectors, the Active Fun industry is at our core. To reflect this, we’ve launched our new website with the help of Creo that really highlights the work, installations and developments we do in this industry.

By putting ourselves in the shoes of our customers and partners, we identified areas of the website that could benefit from stronger usability, such as a brand new ‘solution finder’ and product support guide.


Our Top Installations

Last year we had a one (or two) of a kind project in Amsterdam, with two strong brands opening under one roof with a total of 11 interactive attractions between them: Monkey Town and Jumpsquare!

In Summer 2024, Monkey Town  opened alongside a Jumpsquare in Amsterdam-Noord, Kadoelen, both offering a premium play experience with a focus on different demographics.

Monkey Town

Monkey Town Amsterdam offers Freedom Gaming, AeroStrike, Trailblazer, TriggerTrac, SkyPods, FreeStyle Duo and Talking Bags, with a younger demographic of 12 and under.

The Monkey Town brand has over 45 venues across the Netherlands, and is expanding into Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, France, Portugal, Spain and Italy. Their brand offers clean, safe and fun play and cafe with a fixed, affordable price.

Jumpsquare

Jumpsquare Amsterdam offers a FreeStyle Duo, High-9 Duo, BattleBaskets Pro court, and a PowrPlay pitch, catering to an older demographic, including teenagers and adults.

Jumpsquare Amsterdam is part of the JumpSquare, JumpXL and You Jump group, with over 34 venues across Europe.

With these venues being the first of the brands to install multiple interactives at build level, it’s an exciting time to see how interactives will play a part in future soft play and trampoline parks within the companies.

Monkey Town, Amsterdam-Noord

Monkey Town, Amsterdam-Noord

Monkey Town, Amsterdam-Noord

Monkey Town, Amsterdam-Noord

Monkey Town, Amsterdam-Noord

Monkey Town, Amsterdam-Noord

Jump Square, Amsterdam-Noord

Jump Square, Amsterdam-Noord

Jump Square, Amsterdam-Noord

Jump Square, Amsterdam-Noord

Jump Square, Amsterdam-Noord

Jump Square, Amsterdam-Noord

Freedom Gaming Stats

With our Freedom Gaming tag arena installed in 60+ soft play and trampoline park venues across the globe, 2024 saw thousands of customers enjoying the thrill of the light-seeking obstacle course.

Our Top Selling Product

It’s an oldie but goldy! One of our flagship products, the CardioWall FreeStyle Duo!

Our interactive activity wall is the definition of versatility, offering benefits for all kinds of venues: from trampoline parks, soft play and outdoor gyms, to airports, schools and libraries. If you haven’t played on one yet, get down to your local trampoline park or FEC, odds say they’ll probably have one!

Exhibitions Across the World

Exhibitions and conferences are a great way of meeting up with existing partners and customers, and showing our interactive attractions to new connections. In 2024, we attended 9+ exhibitions and conferences, covering the UK, the USA, and Europe.

Alongside exhibiting at the shows, we had some great opportunities to showcase Rugged products and our expertise in the market further:

  • At IAAPA Florida, our Founder and Co-CEO, Simon Heap, presented a talk on ‘The Future of FEC’s’ and how they will be Immersive, Gamified, and Personalised
  • Our European Sales Manager, Ray, arranged an open day at Monkey Town before IAAPA Florida, giving potential customers the opportunity to see our products in action. He was back there a few days later presenting to all Monkey Town franchisees about the power of gamification, too!
  • We presented a talk at the AIP Conference, Trade Show and Awards Gala on ‘Trends in the Soft Play Market’, comparing UK vs US design and interactive product offering

Thank you to all everyone who attended these events!

Explore our gallery of main exhibitions below…

Exhibition Stats

90+ Exhibition Hours
12 Rugged Interactive Attractions Showcased
1000+ Active Fun Brochures Handed Out

Thanks for your Amazing Feedback!

We’re always looking for feedback on our products, processes and experience. We’ve picked some of our favourite quotes from the soft play and trampoline park industry in 2024:

1/6

New Rugged Starters

About Joanne

In Joanne's spare time, she loves exploring the rugged beauty of Dartmoor with her husband and two dogs. If she is not out on the moors, you can usually find her signing up for yet another running event.

Joanne
Joanne Head of New Product Development
About Dean

Dean enjoys watching sport, keeping up to date with new tech & providing IT support for family and friends!

Dean
Dean Senior Service Manager
About Louise

Louise has been in executive and governance support roles for over 12 years. She's a lover of animals and nature, a student of aerial silks and Italian language, and an amateur archer.

Louise
Louise Executive Assistant to the Directors
About Helen

In my spare time, I love spending time outdoors, especially with my loyal Labrador, who is always eager for an adventure. When I’m not out with my dog, I also teach piano, sharing my passion for music.

Helen
Helen HR Advisor
About Joe

Joe has a keen interest in rugby and also enjoys cycling.

Joe
Joe Workshop Engineer
About Samuel

Samuel was a professional athlete from Sarawak, Malaysia, he loves to combine both of his passions, sport and design, to make fitness fun!

Samuel
Samuel Junior Design Engineer
About Jane

Jane graduated from Griffith University with a Bachelor of Business (majoring in Marketing) in Brisbane, Australia. She has worked in marketing for over 7 years and has a real passion for digital marketing, brand and tech. In her spare time she likes to plan her next travel destination, charity shop and spend time with friends and family.

Jane Marketing Campaign Lead
About Lauren

Lauren graduated from London Southbank University with a BA in Film Production. She has worked in marketing for over 4 years, specialising in video production and social content. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, trying new restaurants, and sitting down with a good show and a cuppa.

Lauren Digital Marketing Executive / Content Creator
About Gemma

Gemma loves the great outdoors and can normally be found in the ocean or exploring the Cornish countryside.

Gemma
Gemma Service Coordinatior
About James Bosley

I enjoy playing or watching most sports, mainly football, and I support Arsenal. I also enjoy going to the gym.

James Bosley Accounts Assistant
About Rob

Rob enjoys reading, watching Rugby and Cricket (most sport really), doing (and occasionally composing) cryptic crossword puzzles and is a sucker for a quiz!

Rob
Rob Workshop Engineer
About Anthony

Originally from Newquay, Anthony has a deep passion for aircraft photography, capturing the beauty and power of planes in flight. In addition to this hobby, he enjoys spending time outdoors and walking his dog along the scenic coastal paths.

Anthony
Anthony Production Engineer
About Paul

Paul moved to Cornwall to indulge in his passion for surfing and coastal walking. He also enjoy cycling and a good beer.

Paul
Paul Team Leader
About Jason S

Jason enjoys hiking and camping or anything to do with the great outdoors!

Jason S
Jason S Workshop Engineer

Corporate Giving

At Rugged, we’re all about giving back to the communities surrounding Bristol and Bodmin, and beyond! Here’s what we got up to in 2024.

Carbon Offsetting Tree Planting

We’re on a mission to be carbon neutral, which involves our collaboration with Plant One. For every product we sell at Rugged, we plant trees with the Cornwall-based charity, so the larger the product (and its manufacturing output), the more trees we plant!

You can delve more into our partnership with Plant One below…

Tree Count

833 Trees Planted
22.5k Kg of CO2 Offset
112k Car Miles Equivalent
£9.8k Donated to Plant One

Find Out More

Eco Report 2024

That's a Wrap!

In true Rugged fashion, we had a non-stop year in the world of active play and we’re ready for another 12 months!

We couldn’t have done it without our motivated and passionate Rugged team members, alongside the support from our customers and partners. A huge thank you from Simon, Harry and the entire Rugged team.