An Edinburgh business that specialises in throwing parties for young kids and teens is implementing a payment plan scheme to help parents through the cost of living crisis.
The Party Place in Longstone, which is run by the husband and wife duo Andy and Natalie, say that the rising costs of living is impacting everyone at the moment and that they thought they had to act.
Noticing that parents in the past six to seven months have been messaging them to say they are struggling with large deposits and final payments, the couple thought it wise to put in place a system where parents and guardians can pay off parties over a longer period.
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Andy said that their goal is to make sure that kids get the party that they deserve and if it means spreading the cost of the celebration over ten payments then it is the right thing to do.
The Party Place, which Andy says is the brainchild of his eight-year-old daughter Sky, has also struggled with rising costs but their mission in life is to provide special days for children and young people who suffered so much through the pandemic.
On their new cost of living scheme, he said: “When we organise a party we take a 25 percent deposit and the remaining 75 is taken closer to the day of the celebration. But we noticed that a lot of our customers have been enquiring about the deposits, asking if they can pay so much now and the rest the next again week.
“This led to Natalie and I putting our heads together to come up with the scheme. It’s not fair for families wanting a party for their kids to go without so we decided to let them split up the costs in the hope that it could help the children get their big day.
“When we opened around a year and a half ago we were really busy and folk could pay the deposit before paying for the party the day before in a lump sum no bother. But in the last six or seven months our customers are more concerned about the large payments due to the economic situation at the moment.
“We are family run and so it is important for us that other families get that special day. If that means paying it up over ten instalments then it is all good.
“Of course we are a business who are here to make money but we also want people to enjoy themselves. People have said to us in the past that our prices are too low but we want our customers to be able to afford our services.
“We will do anything to create a special day for children. Especially after the pandemic. They deserve it.”
Andy, from Broomhouse, said that it is not just his customers who are struggling as his own business has seen energy prices dramatically rise meaning that they are also not safe from the cost of living crisis. The Party Place offers five packages that cater for ages one to 16 - with the latest neon party deal being another idea of the entrepreneurial Sky.
He continued: “It is difficult at the moment. We had to put our prices up a wee bit a few months ago.
“We added £20 onto each package which doesn’t really make a difference with the gas and electric to be honest but we have to just survive at the moment. We are scrimping and saving as we have our own family expenses too.
“Recently we have been doing strike days for the school being off and trying to make it affordable. At the moment we are just going from month to month and seeing how we are doing but we want to be accessible so that everyone can benefit from our parties.”
Andy and Natali have four children: Kyle, Joey, Sam and Sky who is often referred to as the “brains behind the operation.”
You can enquire about The Party Place and their services via their Facebook page here.
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