The festive season is supposed to be a time of giving however for a Stanwell bouncy castle business owner December was a time of shattering loss. Items stolen include a pirate bouncy castle with a slide, 15 foot slide bouncy castle, princess bouncy castle, several blowers and a number of other items. Despite the fact that the garage is enclosed by secure gates the thieves still managed to break in and steal the expensive equipment.
Keith Gardiner and Jon Lerwill are local Stanwell residents who run a successful company called Giraffe Inflatables. On December 11 the pair arrived at the company garage only to find that five bouncy castles and eight blowers had been stolen. The stock was valued at over £12,000 and is a devastating blow for the business that revolves around fun and enjoyment.
After leaving the army in 2011 Lerwill set up the business with a friend and has been enjoying a successful run ever since. The crime was understandably a devastating blow for both Giraffe Inflatables owners. “My business partner and I are really upset about it,” he said. “I don’t really know how to put how I’m feeling into words. We’ve worked so hard for something and in our own time at weekends.”
While the business started off with just £1,000 worth of capital it quickly grew and was almost on the verge of making a profit. “We are very disappointed as next year we were going to be making a profit for the first time,” adds Lerwill.
The police have not yet confirmed who is behind the theft yet Lerwill is pointing the finger at the company that manages the supposedly ‘secure’ site. He maintains that the business “paints itself a nice picture of being a secure site but in reality they are not.”
Understandably, the property manager of the site claims that garages can “only be as secure as the tenants leave it.” Peter Haswell, property manager at Dudrich Holdings explains, “The problem is you never know if you give a code to a tenant for a site, that they could then tell the rest of their family,” he said. “Then suddenly from one person knowing, you have five.”
Surrey Police are continuing to investigate the case yet have not yet caught the culprit. “We can confirm we had a theft reported of five bouncy castles from a secure unit used as a storage facility on Clare Road,” says a spokesperson.
Running a bouncy castle business is supposed to be fun however this latest incident highlights the absolute importance of having a comprehensive damage and theft insurance policy in place. Compare bouncy castle insurance quotes now.
