In The Club - The Kids' Activity Business Podcast

EP 47: 2025 Wrap And What’s Next

• ClassForKids

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SPEAKER_00:

This time last year, I hadn't quite developed my cool pose that I've got on the phone. What are we in for? And then you went off for quite some time and left me on my own. And in that time I developed this cool pose. Okay, well I know that a lot of people listening can't see it, but uh this just gives them more I think I would be joining the listeners.

SPEAKER_01:

If you're watching this, I'm really sorry.

SPEAKER_00:

I think it's pretty cool. I think that you're you're lacking a pose.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh don't you're making me feel self-conscious.

SPEAKER_00:

This is an end-of-year rap podcast for MD.

SPEAKER_01:

Do you like the kind of like glance that I gave you to make you feel self-conscious now?

SPEAKER_00:

I like the glance. Remember, the audio listeners didn't get to see glance through their ears.

SPEAKER_01:

Anyway. Anyway. We are doing the wrap-up of 2025. I always need to remind myself.

SPEAKER_00:

I think we've done two. I know.

SPEAKER_01:

Don't worry, I'm taking over the podcast strategy next year, so um there'll be lots to come in that place where you haven't been managing it so well. No, it's not going to be stripping out the fun. However, we do have a really good podcast strategy going into the new year, thinking about who we potentially want to get onto the podcast. We've got new content pillars, and we're actually trying to make it a bit more business focused so that when people are listening, they can take away solid pieces of business advice.

SPEAKER_00:

It has been um sorely sorely needed, to be totally honest. This is we're going into the fourth year.

SPEAKER_01:

I know I was looking at our stats last Thursday when I was sort of looking at the strategy for it. Whoa, whoa. Up down, up down, up down. I noticed there was a huge down period when I was off last year, I'm not gonna lie. Uh so yeah, uh it can only be attributed to it was a lot more funny. Yeah, you had to do more podcasts in order to obtain the same stats without me.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, we had to do more because people were asking for more. Oh, I'm sure they were. There was lots of sort of messages coming through saying, Stephen, please, whilst Rebecca's still off, could you do five more podcasts and make them so special? Funny what you do. It's Christmas. And again, for the non-visual listeners, um, I'm wearing a Gremlins jumper. Um and I see that you didn't get the the jumper memo.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't think anybody else in the office got the jumper memo because nobody else is wearing a Christmas jumper. It's Christmas. I've literally got Christmas jumper day was on Friday, Stephen.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't know what you mean by Christmas jumper day.

SPEAKER_01:

There's an official Save the Children Christmas Jumper Day, and it's a charity day, and then you donate a bit of money. Now you're making me feel terrible.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, so you should.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I've got enough Christmas jumpers and t-shirts and shirts to cover every day of the I can only imagine the hoarding of your cupboard space that's taken up by Christmas shirts jumpers. I can imagine.

SPEAKER_00:

Um and it gets bigger every year.

SPEAKER_01:

And if you just scroll back on our socials, if you go and look at any of the content that we put out on YouTube, you'll just see Steven's always in wacky shirts. Oh, wacky shortman! Wacky shortman, wacky waving inflatable arm to men. Um that is Stephen down to a T, but yeah. Anyway, we keep getting distracted.

SPEAKER_00:

2025 has been viewed 2025 very quickly, and then you can talk about what was more in store for 2026.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, I only came back halfway through the year because I was off for halfway.

SPEAKER_00:

The first half of the year was idyllic, just say. And there's lots of cool stuff happening, everybody was just kind of did-do-do, da-da-do.

SPEAKER_01:

And then our performance dramatically improved from June when I came back.

SPEAKER_00:

My performance has has been uh constantly under par.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, I think we can all all assume what that means. Um the year started.

SPEAKER_02:

It was a very busy year in my starting at like a story like Gather Children Run down. Gather Children Ralph and she'll tell you of the year that just. So the year started. In the year of our Lord, 2025. We're losing them, we're losing them. Pull it back, pull it back.

SPEAKER_00:

Events and partnerships in MySpace. And we've done an awful lot of events and partnershipping.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. There's lots of ships. Tell me about the partners you've brought on in 2025, who they are, what they do.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, an amazing partnerships manager in Mama, who never likes to come on this, but when she does, she does quite well because she thinks she's not very good in front of the camera. But she is very good, and she'll probably listen to this because she is one of the six listeners.

SPEAKER_02:

Um the other the other five were you and I with separate accounts. Cameron, um, he may I don't think he listens.

SPEAKER_00:

No. No. Anyway. So we started the year, um, Seema came back from maternity leave. We had a year of people coming back from maternity leave.

SPEAKER_01:

And a well, uh and a year of people going off because Nicole and our team went off as well. Oh, that's right, yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Lots of babies. There was a baby boom. Seema came back, and yeah, um, she kind of hit the ground running, picking up big name partnerships that we could work with along the likes of IDS, Quattro, many more that are still in the kind of works. We're working with BCA now, we're gonna be working with BBO next year.

SPEAKER_02:

I feel like you're just saying, like it's just all action. You could say the FT9168.

SPEAKER_00:

We're gonna be working with SQW9 next year if you don't know who they are. You just wait. You just wait and see. Now, a lot of people um I've been working with already, and what's really good, these partnerships take a long time to kind of cultivate. It's not just a kind of pick up a phone call. We need to align with these companies, they need to align with us, and we need to prove our worth, they need to prove our worth to them. And it shows now, I think, that any of the events that we've been going to attending this year, going back a year or so ago, we would be working the room trying to pick up um people that might want to partner with us this year in particular. They've been coming to our stalls and been looking us up. They've got a partnerships form on the website, which not a month went by without two or three people getting in touch. So that kind of feeds into what I do in events and that the partnerships of all these partners usually have several events that they do already. So we try and tie in with them so that we are at the forefront of the kind of as many verticals as we can be in within an industry. This year predominantly has been a lot of dance. Yeah. It has been a dancing year, a dancer of a year.

SPEAKER_01:

A dancer every year. And we've also been over to Ireland quite a lot as well.

SPEAKER_00:

Been over an awful lot. I'm not long back for the last time of the year, but I think we went six times um to and lots more planned as we move into 2026 stuff to get event. It's not it's a great place to visit. I've now become like a this is a Visit Ireland campaign. It's a Visit Ireland advert. Um it's a great place to visit. I would go and visit it. That's what I'd say about it. People are lovely. Yeah um again at the moment it's really in the dance space that we've been working out there. Um there is much more to do in the gymnastic spaces and the football spaces, and the people are great.

SPEAKER_01:

I think I've only been to Ireland once with class for kids. Yeah, we went to Dublin and do you remember we met a band when we were out? Oh, yeah. Dominda, I think is her name. So I don't know if they listened to the podcast, but they actually had some great music.

SPEAKER_00:

So I think we told them before the podcast. I think we did. I went away for Pinballs, came back. You were talking to some random band.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, well, Johnny and I were. We were chatting to uh Dominda and we were like, Okay, we're gonna listen to your music, and we actually did. And uh I think Johnny messaged him on Instagram, like, hey, I met you at the weekend. I think they did reply to him. So did they?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, uh they did. The sales my Johnny, the sales team leader.

SPEAKER_00:

And the father of your son, the beautiful, the wondrous, for real, absolutely stunning child, probably the best child in the world.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, he is the best child in the world. I'm sorry. Yeah, he is, he's so cute. Um yeah, that's the reason obviously I think we've talked about it in the podcast before that I was off. So I think I finished up in November of 2023.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh gosh, that's wild. Um and yeah, I came back in June, and obviously lots has happened since then. Um but yes, I was off because I had a baby, and he's now one and just absolutely wonderful.

SPEAKER_00:

He was one not long ago.

SPEAKER_01:

November.

SPEAKER_00:

He has the same star sign as me, which gives me absolute like fear Scorpio.

SPEAKER_01:

Fear. Although I think I would rather Scorpio to Sagittarius because Johnny's the Sagittarius, and it's just a lot of energy in that space.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, so I running events right throughout the year. We've literally just finished the last event with the BCA, which is the British Cheer Association at the Blackpool Winter Gardens, like yesterday. They just came back from there yesterday, which was fantastic. Charles from the BCA has been great as well. But you came back mid-year and then you got right into.

SPEAKER_01:

I think it was home game, was my first campaign back um with Ross from Pitch Parade.

SPEAKER_00:

Didn't we whistle something?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh yeah, it was uh a football campaign. We gave away a football festival experience. Um, football is obviously one of the markets that we work with at Class for Kids. Uh, we've done Showstopper since then, which was a dance campaign where we partnered with IDS and gave away vouchers. We've done a Quattro campaign where we gave away vouchers. So the kind of theme is partners are a huge part of Class for Kids and obviously represent a lot of the clubs in the industry in spaces and places, be that at events, be it at a partner level, a governing body level. There's just loads that's happened. I think I've been out to the Gadarova masterclass. Um so there's just loads and loads happening, and I think right now my main focus is planning for what is our Q3 because our financial year starts halfway through the year. Um most of them start either at the start of the year in April. Um, but yeah, we're planning for Q3, and and lots of that actually lives in our brand space and what we can do to work on and improve it. And um that also forms part of our content strategy and the content that we share, not only for prospects interested in Class for Kids, but also for our customers. And obviously, I can't reveal too much of what we're doing in the background there, but we want to make it easier for our customers to be able to access all the wonderful resources that we have to help them with their business. We want to give them spaces where they can connect with one another, um, so read between the lines of what that that might mean. But that's a big focus for us in marketing as we go into Q3 is just about really laying good foundations for the brand and and making sure that we're we're on it with our customers as well. So lots of work to do and when we're coming back in January. So we're about to finish up for Christmas in two and a bit days. We've got our Christmas party on Thursday, um, but you know, just coming back in January and hit the ground running, we've got really solid plans, and I'm excited for what our H2 will be in sort of January to June.

SPEAKER_00:

Nice. Now, okay, that's next year, and as you can hear, it definitely is going to be far better planned. Um, somebody just up sticks and leaves me on my own for six months, things tend to go awry. Um, highlights of last year, albeit you only had six months. Um, one of mine was pretty much right after you came back, we went down to the Garderova twins, which was a competition we ran with the two Olympians, the Garderova twins, it was Jessica and Jennifer. And it was a fantastic event we had in Harrow in London. We took an awful lot of the team down there.

SPEAKER_01:

We did, yeah. And we got yeah, we took Noah and Noah came with us.

SPEAKER_00:

Um Johnny, so mummy, daddy, and baby were there, and they made about four or five.

SPEAKER_01:

It was a heat wave. Um we got stuck in London.

SPEAKER_00:

At the beginning, I was quite like, I don't think you should come. Because I just I've got a bad feeling, like I don't like baby in London. Oh, don't know, I don't like um, but you guys were very much like, no, we can do this. And you did do it. Yeah, we did. And and to be fair, on the way down, Noah was we went on the train. I've never had a better behaved child on the train within four and a half hour, five hour journey.

SPEAKER_01:

He's good, but he's also a pain in the back.

SPEAKER_00:

Um but then we'll hand London to you. We all went back up the road going, Great event, guys, thanks so much. See you tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, we stayed the extra night because it was like later in the afternoon that the event finished, and we were like, Nope, we're not gonna travel late into the evening with the baby, we'll just go back on on the next next day. Heat wave in London, it was Wimbledon. For some reason, I think there was a storm in Scotland, which is just like the juxtaposition of what it's like in London. Uh, there was trees on the train, I think like Carlisle, Penrith, and you couldn't get to the Edinburgh line either. So we got stuck in London. We were literally in I think it was Paddington we were in actually, and we were like, What do we do? We're stuck in London. So we had to book an extra night in a hotel, and we just had a day in London and just wandered about. I phoned Lee, who's our head of marketing and manager, and I was like, I'm stuck in London. She's like, I'm off and I'm at Wimbledon. I was like, Well, this is what I'm doing, I'm not I'm not going back to work today.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, we're stuck in London. The highlight for me, you getting stuck there. Actually, that might have been there's a couple of days of pure peace up here afterwards.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

But what what would be your highlight um of the years thus far if you've got one? I mean, you don't need to say coming back to work for me, but I mean I mean, yeah, that's obviously my number one.

SPEAKER_01:

Do you know we've had a really successful year as a team in marketing, I think. Not since I've come back, I just mean like if I'm looking at this whole period of time when I've come back, um, and I think you know that's just a personal win. But if I look at what is it that we've done that's maybe, you know, really good for our customers, what is it that we're doing? And and I think though the foundations of it have been laid in in this quarter. So thinking about the content, how accessible is it, what content's the stuff that's actually going to help them in their business. Um, we've done loads of different things to make it more accessible for people. So we've done a lot of online events people could sign up for. We're trying to be very topical and to what's relevant in the market. So whether that's seasonality of what's happening at the club, um whether that's you know what's happening in the wider market. So let's do an online event on how to use AI, let's do an online event and how you can use Canva and how you can use the AI feature within that. We've looked a lot at social media and how they can improve on those different things. We've really tried to take the expertise that we've built over this sort of you know four or five years that we've both been here. Um we've got other people involved, we've got new members of the team, fresh people with fresh ideas, and we've tried to make the content more relevant, more accessible, and something that'll actually make a difference. And you know, we've always tried to plan our content that way, but I think we've really captured it in this past sort of year, you know, uh maybe since June since I came back, and harnessing on that and thought what would actually be helpful to our clubs, and we can see that in terms of how the content's performing, how people are revisiting it, they're going back to you know YouTube videos that were done on lives to re-watch things.

SPEAKER_00:

Even this in itself, the podcast we're so old now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So I I think for me, you know, if I was to look at it from a personal perspective, absolutely it's some of the performance that we've achieved as a team. But if I think about it sort of more holistically and and you know, what's actually making a difference, I think it's the resources that we're producing are actually having an impact for the people that are receiving those. And that's kind of what I want to commit to as we go into the new year is just producing more of that helpful content, making it really clear who class for kids are, what we stand for, you know, what is it we're known for from ease of use for clubs and for parents, you know, what does that actually mean practically and and why should clubs care about it? That's what we need to to work on and make clear and make it understandable for clubs. So, um yeah, excited about our content and all of the things that we're doing. And generally, I think you know, with the podcast, you know, we're kind of talking about us here and things like that. But I think going into the new year, there's going to be some really good opportunities that we will approach um for people to get on the podcast and just thinking about seasonality and all those different things, like what's happening from camps to dance shows to football events, all of those different things are the things that we want to filter onto this podcast. So if you are listening or watching and you have an idea, or if you want to be interviewed, if you want to come on the podcast, all you have to do is reach out to us via our social media. You can DM us on our Instagram, Class4Kids UK, um, and just chat to us because we would love to know. Last, last, last, last, last thing. If you're a club and you're listening to this and you want to share a highlight with us from your year, please just drop a comment on this one of these podcast lists which we'll post out, or just DM us. We'd love to hear from you about what your highlight's been, whether that's a personal achievement, something you've achieved in your business that you've been aiming for for a while, or something that you're looking forward to in the new year, do feel free to message us. We love to hear it.

SPEAKER_00:

Let's do it one last time this year. One, two, three. Bye.

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Steven Young

Host
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Rebecca Forsyth

Co-host