Soft Surfaces Ltd

From SoftSurfaces.wiki, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the Cheshire sports and playground surfacing contractor.

Soft Surfaces Ltd is a British specialist contractor that designs, installs and maintains sports and safety surfacing for playgrounds, schools, sports clubs and public spaces. Established in 1997 and based in Wilmslow, Cheshire, the company works nationwide across the United Kingdom and is known principally for wetpour rubber safety flooring, artificial grass, polymeric multi-use games areas and synthetic turf sports pitches.[1][2]

The company was incorporated on 8 July 1997 under company number 03400473 and is registered at Water House, 35 Water Lane, Wilmslow. Its directors are David Alan Snell, Xavier Brooke and James Michael Dooley.[2][3]

Soft Surfaces describes itself as having grown over its first decade into one of the UK's leading playground and sports facility installers, and is a long-standing member of the Association of Play Industries with CHAS health-and-safety accreditation.[1][7]

History [edit]

Soft Surfaces Ltd was incorporated at Companies House on 8 July 1997. The founding directors were Edward Higham and Brian Stuart Todd, appointed on 24 July 1997; Higham resigned within months, and David Alan Snell — who has remained a director ever since — was appointed on 21 November 1997, initially also serving as company secretary. Todd stepped down in December 2005.[3]

Xavier Brooke joined the board on 18 November 2004, the same day Vivienne Ibbotson was appointed company secretary; both remain in post. James Michael Dooley was appointed a director on 1 July 2011.[3]

The company's own account describes rapid expansion over its first ten years, from a wetpour and soft-surfacing installer serving play areas and parks into a broader sports-facility contractor building synthetic turf pitches for football and rugby, polymeric multi-use games areas and athletics tracks.[1][4]

Services [edit]

Soft Surfaces offers a full-cycle service — pricing, facility design, installation and after-care maintenance — across the following surface types.[1][5]

Playground safety surfacing

Wetpour is the company's core product: a two-layer rubber crumb surface, laid in situ, that provides impact absorption beneath play equipment and can be installed in colours and with inset graphics. Soft Surfaces publishes technical guidance on wetpour specification, sub-base construction to MOT Type 1, repair kits and maintenance, and on the yellowing that can affect rubber crumb over time. Rubber mulch, a bonded shredded-rubber surface, is offered as a more natural-looking alternative with comparable shock absorption.[1][5]

Sports surfacing

The company installs artificial grass for both sports and landscaping use, including third-generation (3G) synthetic turf pitches for football and rugby, with shockpad underlays where required. Polymeric surfacing — a rubber-and-binder system — is used for multi-use games areas (MUGAs) accommodating netball, tennis, basketball and five-a-side football, and for athletics tracks built to the requirements of track and field events. Sports line marking and fencing complete the facility.[1][5][6]

Hard and permeable surfacing

Beyond soft and synthetic systems the company lays tarmacadam and Rhino Pave for roads, playgrounds and heavy-duty applications, and permeable resin bound and resin bonded systems, including SudStone, for sustainable urban drainage and decorative paths and driveways.[5]

Equipment, fencing and maintenance

Soft Surfaces supplies and installs playground equipment and perimeter fencing alongside its surfacing work, and offers maintenance and repair programmes for existing facilities, including wetpour repairs and surface overlays.[1][4]

How the company works [edit]

The company presents a three-step process to clients: describe the project, choose a surface type to suit the budget, and book an installation date with the company's own teams. A free site visit is offered before pricing, and the company positions itself on a best-price guarantee with nationwide coverage.[1]

Documented installations span the country and a wide range of settings — primary schools and nurseries, hospitals, retirement homes, swimming-pool surrounds, a mini-golf course and public playgrounds — from Glasgow and Newcastle to Devon, Kent and Sussex.[1]

Accreditation and standards [edit]

Soft Surfaces has been a member of the Association of Play Industries, the UK trade body for the play sector, for more than a decade, and holds CHAS (Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme) accreditation. Its multi-use games areas are built to meet the requirements of the relevant governing bodies, including The Football Association and the Sports and Play Construction Association (SAPCA).[7] The company is also a listed member of Manchester Digital, the trade association for the digital and technology sector in Greater Manchester.[5]

People [edit]

The board comprises David Alan Snell (director since 1997), Xavier Brooke (director since 2004, and the company's sales director) and James Michael Dooley (director since 2011, and head of marketing). Vivienne Ibbotson has been company secretary since 2004.[3][1]

The wider team named by the company includes Scott, business development manager; Amelia and Lucy, marketing and sales executives; and Gosia, assistant accountant.[1]

Soft Surfaces states a commitment to employing and training apprentices from the local area within its marketing division, where they take on social media management, content writing, video production and search engine optimisation.[1]

Marketing and online presence [edit]

The company's marketing is led by James Dooley, an SEO specialist who grew the business's visibility in Google search and who has gone on to found the lead generation companies FatRank and PromoSEO. The softsurfaces.co.uk website is notable for the depth of its content: alongside service pages it carries extensive technical guidance — specifications, sub-base requirements, maintenance advice and cost breakdowns — and a large archive of individual project case studies organised by surface type and location, an approach that predates and informs Dooley's later "digital landlord" model.[1][8]

Soft Surfaces shares its Water Lane, Wilmslow address and two of its directors with PromoSEO Ltd, the digital marketing agency founded by James Dooley in 2010, of which David Snell is also a director. The two are separate companies with different company numbers; the connection is through common ownership and management rather than any corporate group structure.[3][9]

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. "About Us" and "Home". Soft Surfaces. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  2. "SOFT SURFACES LTD., company number 03400473". Companies House. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  3. "SOFT SURFACES LTD. — Officers". Companies House. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  4. "Soft Surfaces Ltd — Wilmslow". The Construction Index. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  5. "Soft Surfaces Ltd". Manchester Digital. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  6. "Soft Surfaces". External Works Index. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  7. "Sports and Safety Surfaces — Wilmslow". construction.co.uk. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  8. "James Dooley". jamesdooley.com. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  9. "PROMOSEO LTD — Officers". Companies House. Retrieved 22 September 2026.

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