Blakedown Sport & Play Review

The process of planning and building a sporting facility is a complex and time-consuming experience that can become all-consuming. Contracting this out to an experienced, skilled company can make a huge difference to how smoothly the process goes, and the guidance of experts can help you to avoid the worst potential pitfalls of the planning process. 

There are many of these companies out there, but Blakedown Sport and Play is one of the best known in the UK. However, there are not many Blakedown Sport and Play reviews out there, so our Blakedown Sport and Play review aims to help you learn more about this company and exactly what it can offer you as a customer.

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No matter what the specifics of your project are, or exactly what your personal needs might be, if you are looking for a manufacturer of sport and outdoor play areas, then Blakedown Sport and Play might be just what you are looking for. As one of the biggest and longest-running sports facility construction contractors in the UK, Blakedown Sport and Play brings a high level of expertise to the field. 

Oxfordshire-based Blakedown Sport and Play offers a wide range of services to customers, with a strong focus on the design and surfacing of sports pitches. 

But are they really as good as they look? You might be surprised by just how versatile this company is when you see the full content in our Blakedown Sport and Play review below!

Table of Content

Blakedown Sport & Play Overview

Based in Wroxton, Oxfordshire, Blakedown Sport and Play is a major company in the sports facility construction industry, including a number of smaller companies under its umbrella.

Blakedown Sport and Play is one of the longest-running sports facility construction contractors in the entire country, having recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. With decades of experience, they know more about building sports facilities and outdoor play areas than any other contracting company in the UK. Blakedown Sport and Play have worked with some of the largest sporting events in the world, building facilities for major events that include the Commonwealth Games.

The company specialises in the construction of synthetic play surfaces but offers a range of different materials in this field, including types such as 3G, sand dressed, sand filled, water-based, polymeric, acrylic, and traditional tarmac surfacing options. They also offer a full range of ancillary services, including sports equipment, spectator seating, car park building, landscaping, floodlighting, and fencing. 

As a long-standing and well-respected sports facility construction contracting company, Blakedown Sport and Play are principal contractor members of a range of industry bodies, including SAPCA, CHAS, Safe Contractor, Construction Link, BAGCC, EXOR, and BALI, as well as holding full API accreditation and a quality approval from ISOQAR.

In addition to sports facility construction contracting, Blakedown Sport and Play and its subsidiary companies also offer a full range of landscaping services, as well as long term care and maintenance for your sporting facilities through their subsidiary company Advantage Sport. This gives them the ability to help with every stage of the process at every scale, from environment design and planning to post-installation care, maintenance, and repairs.

Services Offered by Blakedown Sport & Play

Blakedown Sport and Play offer a wide range of services and options relating to the building and installation of sports facilities and outdoor play areas. Their main focus is on sports pitches, but they also offer other services, with ancillary companies working on pitch maintenance and landscaping, all operated under the wider Blakedown umbrella.

Blakedown Sport and Play offer the following services:

Sports Pitch Design

Blakedown Sport and Play offer a comprehensive in-house facility design service divided into three stages. The three stages cover assessing site conditions and developing the basics of the project, agreeing on a proposal, and then finalising that proposal into a design and specification that will result in planning permission when the time comes.

Sports Pitch Planning

Planning permission is a major hurdle for all new sports facilities, whether you are setting up a pitch, a track, a stadium, or a MUGA. The planning process can take a long time – often 8 to 12 weeks from initial presentation to decision – and a great deal of paperwork and information is required in order to assemble a proposal. To be awarded planning permission, a facility must show that it either enhances an existing facility with a distinct improvement or introduces a new facility that is suitable for the area’s demand, e.g., by increasing capacity to meet demand. Blakedown Sport and Play can advise on every stage of the planning process, bringing decades of experience to bear on the process of assembling a planning application that will have the best possible chance of success.

Sports Pitch Funding

Sports facilities can be expensive, and financing them can be difficult. Blakedown Sport and Play brings a high level of experience in the world of funding and budgeting and can help with every step of the budgeting process, from the initial concept to applying for funding for your sports facility. With support and advice on everything from determining the available sources of funding to selecting a funding stream and applying for the resources available. You can be confident that Blakedown Sport and Play can help you to get the best funding available for your proposed facility.

Sports Pitch Maintenance

Blakedown Sport and Play includes a number of ancillary companies under its umbrella, including Advantage Sport, a sub-company that specialises in the maintenance and care of sports pitches and facilities. If your tarmac is getting a bit damaged, or if repairs or cleaning are needed, Advantage Sport can help you keep the longest lifespan possible for your surfacing.

Landscaping

The Blakedown Sport and Play umbrella also includes landscaping services, covering everything from garden design to public parks. Every aspect of the landscaping process can be contracted to Blakedown, from basic design to construction and financing. This is a great option for siting sports facilities in public parks or other similar contexts.

At Blakedown Sport and Play, they specialise in pitch surfacing, offering a wide range of surfacing choices to fit your needs, including 3G, sand dressed, sand filled, water-based, polymeric, acrylic, and traditional tarmac surfacing options. Their services also cover every step of the process from design to implementation, including sports equipment, spectator seating, car park building, landscaping, floodlighting, and fencing.

Blakedown Sport & Play Contact Details

Blakedown Sport and Play can be contacted as follows:

Address:

Apollo Office Park

Ironstone Lane

Wroxton

Oxfordshire

OX15 6AY  

There is a contact form available on the Blakedown Sport and Play website for easy direct contact, as well as all of the options listed above.

Blakedown Sport & Play Reviews

There are no reviews of Blakedown Sport and Play available anywhere online. This includes their Facebook page and official website, neither of which have any public customer reviews or posted testimonials. This is surprising, given the age and reputability of Blakedown Sport and Play, but not a major problem – no reviews are certainly better than negative reviews!

Summary

Overall, Blakedown Sport and Play is one of the best companies out there in the sports facility construction contracting industry. The range of services they offer is significant, and the depth of their planning services stands out above other companies in the field. The world of budgeting and planning permission applications for sports facilities is a murky and complex one, and learning to navigate it can take a long time and a great deal of effort. The support of an experienced company with good knowledge of the quirks of planning applications can make all the difference when it comes to navigating the planning stages for your sports facility!

The lack of customer reviews available for this company might not be ideal, but it is hardly a major concern – the company has been around for a long time, and a lack of reviews is far better than a negative review! There is no reason to be put off by this part of the Blakedown Sport and Play online presence.

Hopefully, our Blakedown Sport and Play review has helped you to get a sense of the services available from this sports facility construction company and whether it might be the company for you. No matter what your needs, in the world of sports facilities may be, Blakedown Sport and Play can probably help you with them! 

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