‘I bring my luxury soft play experience to celebrity homes and they love the Instagrammable look’

A ‘mumpreneur’ who runs high-end soft play experiences in and around Birmingham has told how she was inspired by a desire to give parents a luxury experience. 

Mum-of-two Remen Bains who runs two soft play businesses, says she wants to offer her clients the chance to let their kids run wild in an environment that is “pleasing to the eye”.  

Crumb and Play, based in an old barn in Lichfield, offers parents the chance to enjoy gluten-free and vegan cakes and coffee while their little ones can pretend to be hairdressers or construction workers. 

The 39 year-old’s second business, The Kids Corner, brings the luxury soft-play experience to homes and kids parties – with Remen saying she has celeb clients including Rochelle Humes and local Aston Villa players. 

The ex-investment banker, from Sutton Coldfield, says parents love the clean environment and Instagrammable look of the play area. And she says kids love the gender-neutral colours and play areas. 

Remen said: “Parents like it when they come to a place that feels nice for them - it's got nice surroundings and is very Instagrammable. As a mum myself, I used to go to these soft play places, and they felt dirty and grimy, not finished or offering quality for the little ones. 

“The vision was for a chic, rustic soft play area really based around parents where they can take their kids and still have a nice coffee and cake and snacks. We don’t use plastic toys, they’re all hand-picked wooden good quality products for the kids to play with. 

“There are gluten free and vegan options for children too and the colour palette is pretty and colourful and not sore to the eye. Girls play in the construction area and boys play in the hairdressers - we kept the colours gender neutral.” 

The business-owner first started The Kids Corner in January 2019 with the goal of taking a luxury soft-play experience to client's homes. She says she swiftly picked up celeb clients including Rochelle Humes, Kimberley Walsh, JLS, and England footballers.  

And when she opened Crumb and Play in Lichfield in November 2023, customers began rolling in. Remen says she wants to change the idea of what a soft play area can be – colourful and classy rather than “grimy”. 

Crumb and Play offers 90-minute sessions in the play area from £7.95 for kids under two to £10.95 for older children, and non-crawlers going free. And she says parents return for the cafe’s offerings of cakes from £2.25 and coffees from £3.85. 

“I’m trying to change the mindset of what a soft play can be,” said Remen. “It can be colourful with a bit of class. The mums do like the fact it’s a nice cafe - other soft plays have wild kids everywhere and they’re messy. It’s been designed so parents can have a chat with friends and still have watchful eye on their little ones.”