Fun Fest Holiday Club Franchise | Childcare Business Built Around Children's Choices

Where Children Choose and Businesses Grow

Most holiday clubs tell children what they will be doing. Fun Fest Holiday Club does things differently. Children attending a Fun Fest club choose from a menu of exciting activity sessions every morning and every afternoon, building their own individual holiday programme based on what they love or want to try. In a single week at Fun Fest, a child might play Quidditch, bake a cake, hold a snake, build a den, paint a masterpiece and take part in a Nerf Challenge, each activity chosen by them, not dictated to them. It is this philosophy of child-led choice that has made Fun Fest one of the most loved holiday childcare brands in the country.

Founded by Tina Boden, who launched the first Fun Fest Holiday Club at a private school in Solihull, the concept grew from her own experience as a working parent struggling to piece together holiday childcare across six weeks of summer. She saw a gap in the market and filled it with something genuinely different. Since launching its national franchise programme in 2017, the Fun Fest Holiday Club Franchise has grown to over 40 clubs generating revenue of more than £3 million per annum across the network.

Child-led outdoor play in action - Fun Fest's signature model lets children pick from a menu of activities every session

A Business With Multiple Revenue Streams

The Fun Fest Holiday Club Franchise is not limited to school holiday clubs. Franchisees can build a diversified business across three complementary service lines:

The full three-service franchise package is priced at £19,999 plus VAT, making it accessible for most aspiring business owners. The Holiday Club only package starts at £14,999. Ambitious franchisees with multiple clubs and wraparound services have the potential to achieve a six-figure income.

What the Franchise Includes

• ✓ An exclusive geographical territory based on postcodes, with approximately 20,000 primary-age children
• ✓ School finding service: the head office team analyses, contacts and meets with suitable schools on your behalf
• ✓ Ofsted Nominated Individual training, so no prior childcare qualifications are required
• ✓ Comprehensive training tailored to individual experience, covering operations, marketing, recruitment and accounts
• ✓ A full week hands-on at an operating Fun Fest club before opening
• ✓ A digital marketing package, website page and booking system
• ✓ A toolkit of resources and activity materials
• ✓ Ongoing mentoring and support from a dedicated Regional Director
• ✓ Access to a flexible online training system and the Fun Fest Management App

Recognition and Accreditation

The Fun Fest Holiday Club Franchise is a BFA and EWIF member, and has been listed in the Elite Franchise Top 100 for six consecutive years. It was recognised as Best Newcomer to Franchising at the WorkingMums Top Franchise Awards in 2018 and has this year won the award for continual improvement in franchisee satisfaction. All Ofsted inspections across the network to date have been completed successfully, giving parents, schools and local authorities confidence in the quality of provision.

Kate Bailey, franchisee for Lichfield and Tamworth, described having one thriving club generating a good profit within just over a year, while also pursuing a second club alongside other commitments. Another franchisee was able to step away from full-time employment once Fun Fest returns became sufficient, citing the flexibility and financial returns as transformative.

According to Coram Family and Childcare research, high-quality holiday childcare is essential for both families and the economy, enabling parents to work and children to access enriching activities. That structural demand supports the Fun Fest Franchise model year after year.

How Onboarding Works

Most prospective franchisees are not childcare professionals when they enquire, and Fun Fest is built around that reality. The training pathway is tailored to individual experience and blends online modules with face-to-face sessions, leading up to a full week working hands-on at an established club so a new owner sees every role in action before opening their own. The most important credential, the Ofsted Nominated Individual qualification, is delivered as part of the package, which removes the single biggest barrier for entrants from non-childcare careers.

A Day at a Fun Fest Club

A typical holiday club day runs from 8am to 6pm to fit a working parent's diary, with children arriving at staggered drop-off, choosing their morning activities from a menu pinned up at registration, breaking for lunch, then picking afternoon sessions before late collection. The franchisee acts as the registered manager, leading a seasonal team of activity leaders, assistants and a deputy manager who together cover the staffing ratios Ofsted expects for the three to twelve age range. Most of the franchisee's day is split between safeguarding oversight, parent communication, staff coordination and booking management, with the activity delivery handled by the trained seasonal team.

Territory, Schools and Marketing

Each franchisee receives an exclusive postcode-based territory containing roughly 20,000 primary-aged children, which is enough catchment to support multiple clubs over time without competing internally. One of the most useful elements of the package is the head office school-finding service: the central team analyses suitable schools in the territory, makes initial contact and attends meetings with the franchisee, which compresses the longest part of a typical setup. On the demand side, franchisees inherit a national booking platform, a branded local website page and a digital marketing toolkit, supplemented by acceptance of employer-provided childcare vouchers that widen the affordable customer base.

UK Holiday Childcare Backdrop

Holiday childcare in the UK is a structurally under-supplied market. According to the Coram Holiday Childcare Survey 2025, working parents in Great Britain now face an average bill of £179 per child per week, totalling more than £1,000 across the six-week summer break, and only a minority of local authorities report sufficient places for older primary-age children or those with additional needs. That combination of high willingness-to-pay and chronic shortage is the macro context behind Fun Fest's steady network growth.

Who Suits This Franchise

The model rewards organised, parent-facing operators rather than career educators. Many existing franchisees came from teaching, HR, retail management or a corporate role, and several began part-time alongside their existing job, then scaled to full-time and a second club once revenue justified it. A genuine interest in children is essential, but the day-to-day skills the role asks for are recruitment, staff coordination, local marketing and customer service. Couples and sibling partnerships are well represented in the network, particularly where one partner handles operations and the other focuses on growth.

Interested in exploring more opportunities in this sector? Take a look at other children's franchise opportunities available on Franchise Hunt.