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How They Funded It: Ep 5 – Sgiliau

Episode 5: How Sgiliau Borrowed £100K to Bring a Unique Family Experience to Life

What does it take to build a play centre that goes beyond expectations? In Episode 5 of How They Funded It, host Lesley Williams speaks with Steffan Hughes, the founder of Sgiliau, about how they secured £100,000 in funding to create a standout, high-quality play experience for families.

The funding was used for special effects lighting, high-end finishes, and thoughtful design, ensuring the centre offers something far beyond the standard soft play venue.

Learn more about Sgiliau and watch the podcast below 👇 Or listen on Spotify.

Lesley Williams, Welsh ICE CEO interviews Steffan Hughes Founder & Director at Sgiliau

Meet Sgiliau

  • Experience-first play centre: Sgiliau focuses on creating a warm, welcoming space for families with friendly service, strong community values and staff who can speak Welsh, which is highly valued by parents and children.
  • Entrepreneurial leadership: The founder is a former primary school teacher and Paralympic guide runner. Since leaving teaching in 2016, they’ve launched eight businesses, sold two, and now oversee four companies.
  • Using funding to elevate the vision: A £100,000 loan was used to fund lighting, special effects and premium finishes, making the space visually impressive and setting a new standard for family play centres.

About British Business Bank

British Business Bank is the UK’s economic development bank. Our mission is to drive sustainable growth and prosperity across the UK and to enable the transition to a net-zero economy by improving access to finance for smaller businesses.

We work with more than 200 delivery partners to deliver funding programmes that address existing gaps in the market.

Smaller businesses don’t generally obtain finance directly from us: instead, we usually provide funds and guarantees to private sector partners such as Venture Capitalists, angel groups, CDFIs, banks, asset finance providers and alternative lenders, enabling them to finance a greater number of smaller businesses (either through debt or equity).

We look to help increase the diversity of supply of finance for smaller businesses, so businesses can access the finance they need at whatever stage they are and wherever they are based.

Our programmes are designed for businesses at three stages of growth: Start Up, Scale Up (those with high growth potential), and Stay Ahead (viable companies seeking to stay ahead in their market).

About the Investment Fund for Wales

The British Business Bank’s Investment Fund for Wales aims to drive sustainable economic growth by supporting innovation and creating local opportunities for new and growing businesses across Wales.

The Fund offers a range of commercial finance options with smaller loans from £25,000 to £100,000, debt finance from £100,000 to £2 million and equity investment up to £5 million. The fund covers the whole of Wales, including rural, coastal and urban areas.

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