Ben Rooney, Playbus Manager, explains to Jade Smith the process of creating Pamperbus, the newest addition to his fleet of party buses
I met with Ben at the Playbus base at Broadway Business Park in Yaxley, having previously met him to see his Playbuses (see CBW1183). Welcoming as usual, Ben proudly led me over to the hot pink Pamperbus.
He gave a guided tour of the vehicle which had only recently been completed. Ben said he had arrived at the garage at 0530hrs that morning in order to finish assembling the photo booth.
Designed to be the ‘step up’ from his popular Playbuses, the Pamperbus is geared towards children aged seven and above, as well as teenagers and adults.
After settling on the very comfortable seating in the upstairs lounge, Ben outlined how the Pamperbus went from an idea in his head to a real-life masterpiece.
The vehicle
The coach Ben bought to make the Pamperbus is a Van Hool B12BT with a Volvo engine and automatic gearbox. “It’s a dream to drive,” he said.
“When I bought the vehicle it was a sleeper bus fitted out with 12 or 14 beds on the upper deck, with a lounge at the back and another lounge on the lower deck.
“We wanted to ensure the vehicle we used was of high quality as it needs to be as impressive on the outside as it is on the inside.
“I knew it needed work done – a lot of welding was done underneath, new tyres as well as MOT prep work. Once these vehicles are ready they don’t stop working, so it’s important we do everything properly the first time around.
“It was purchased from a company based in London but the vehicle itself was in Liverpool. I drove there to pick it up – it hadn’t been moved since it had first entered the yard it was sat in so we went on the assumption from my Dad’s expertise that it needed new batteries fitting; the bus started straightaway after we put the new batteries in. I had no problem at all getting it back to Peterborough. It’s a dream to drive – the automatic gearbox is a bonus as it increases the amount of people who can drive it.”
The design
The Pamperbus is completely different to the other vehicles Playbus has as the Playbuses are purely for under 10s, and Mum’s party bus is designed for older children and adults. This Pamperbus will be similar to the Playbuses where it will park up for people to use, rather than driving around with them as passengers. Like the Playbuses, It can be parked anywhere: on a driveway, at a wedding venue or community centre – wherever it is needed.
“I’m trying to keep the Pamperbus as neutral as I can so we can use it for different age groups,” Ben explained. “The children’s parties will be from seven years of age. Any younger than that and they tend to prefer the Playbus.
“We kept the livery simple in order to keep it age-neutral. We’ll add the extra items on board according to the specific age group of each party and what they want. For a young child’s party, for example, we’d just put some nail varnishes on the nail bar upstairs, whereas with the adults they may want to hire a professional in addition to the Pamperbus to have them done properly. I would do it myself, but I’m not very good with nails!”
Zoe (Ben’s partner) did all the decorating and final touches. She found some of the pieces in charity shops and on eBay, however some of the items were from luxury shops that she travelled to. A unique decorative black dog was from a junk shop.
“Some of the ideas for the bus came from Ben and Zoe’s children, and other ideas came from my Mum, Sister, and even Zoe’s Nan who is 70,” Ben continued. “Everyone’s had their input as to what they’d like. A lot of the children and adults wanted karaoke which we have installed in the dance area.
“Doing the Playbus parties meant I overheard what other ideas for parties people liked. Pamper parties are becoming more popular, but not many places do it. Some salons offer the service, but they do the opposite side of what we do – they do the actual pampering at their homes or salons whereas we supply the pampering venue. We’re not treading on their toes as it’s potentially work we can do together.”
The build process
“It’s been a lot of hours and hard work as it’s largely just been myself working on this vehicle,” Ben said. “I also hired a carpet man and upholstery man towards the end as those are areas I’m not as skilled in – I can do it I’d just rather not if I can help it!
“I’ve tried to recycle a lot of the materials from the beginning before I started spending money unnecessarily. As I stripped out all the beds I used the base boards first before buying sheets of wood, as the costs soon add up.
“For the seating I literally stripped everything and wrote what colour I wanted on the back of each section to send off to the upholsterer. I fitted the lounges myself to reduce the cost. The upholsterer, after covering all the seats, also did headlinings and some of the walls.
“My Dad did a cracking paint job as always, and Mum helped on the colour choice and the finances. Mum and Dad can look at areas and know what it will cost realistically, not just giving an understated quote. Everything can add up, so it was good to have their expertise so I could budget accordingly.”
The livery has been kept plain to keep it as neutral as possible. Ben made the point that if he covered it with cartoon characters like with the Playbuses, the adults wouldn’t be interested in it. The simple hot pink with ‘Pamperbus’ and the website written on the side is all that’s needed.
“The hardest part of the building process was stripping everything out to see what I was working with,” Ben explained. “The electrical system was installed first so the wires could be hidden. Everything runs from inverters – we’ve done it so we can also still use the air-conditioning when it’s parked up if we have three-phase power.
“The Pamperbus has been completely different to put together than the Playbuses as it has mainly involved upholstery, carpets and seating along with a few novelty items, rather than the steel and soft play on the Playbuses.”
Lower deck
“Downstairs hasn’t been changed much structurally-speaking; I’ve mostly modernised it with new black and pink leather upholstery,” said Ben. “Literally everything has been re-trimmed as the seating, walls and roof used to have purple moquette which wasn’t the look we were going for. I’ve tried to keep the vehicle mainly black and pink with very few other colours. The cab area has also been re-trimmed to match the interior seating.
“There’s a kitchen area with fridges for drinks. The worktops have been changed three times as I wanted to get the colour exactly right and every time I had it fitted I didn’t like it. A toilet is also on the lower deck so once everyone’s on board they don’t need to get off. We won’t interfere unless they need us.
“The downstairs area is mainly a food and drink lounge so all the mess stays downstairs. There’s a glittery slate-coloured carpet in both lounges. I looked at having the upstairs lounge seating done as the reverse of the downstairs lounge – black trim with pink seats – but it was a bit too in-your-face.
“The lighting was changed with a lot replaced and some added. The remote controlled LED lighting provides some options for different colours and there is coloured mood lighting as well. Disco lights have been also been fitted to the dance area upstairs.”
Upper deck
The upper deck of the Pamperbus is even more impressive than the lower.
“From the front there’s a dancefloor – there’s lights, smoke machines and mirrors everywhere,” Ben enthused. “The mirrors came in as glass at first and they weren’t toughened so they were breaking easily. The ones we have now are acrylic so if someone falls into them they’ll bend rather than break.
“Just behind the dancefloor are two loungers which can just be used to chill out on or can be used as massage beds with heated vibrating massagers. They are basically beds which are foamed up for comfort and they have pink fluffy cushions.
“On from there is a nail bar and makeup area and with mirrors and cabinets. The nail bar is made out of one of our old pine beds, which has saved another £70-80 on wood alone, which has allowed us to splash out elsewhere. The nail area has a glittered lino floor so that if nail varnish gets spilt it can be cleaned quite easily, while still giving a nice look to the area. The height of the nail bar is suitable for both children and adults and the stools are adjustable so that anyone can use them.
“Behind that is a photo booth which is made up of a giant photoframe in front of a bench so people can pose with props and fancy dress to take pictures.
“The upstairs lounge is basically a small cinema. It has a 50 inch smart TV which has Apple TV and Bluetooth so that people can play their own music and stream films.
“It also has a high-end surround sound system, and the same glitter carpet as downstairs. The carpet in the upstairs lounge cost £300, so we want to avoid food and drink being taken upstairs to prevent mess.
“Most of the windows have gone upstairs for privacy, but some have been kept in the upstairs lounge area to bring some extra light in and make it feel that bit bigger.
“I’ve changed all the plug sockets so they have USB points on them as well as a lot of people carry a lead for their mobile device, but not a plug.
“I’ve also soundproofed some areas to help trap the noise like the dance area so that it doesn’t clash with everything else that’s going on. The movie lounge has a door on it so that the door can be shut for added sound protection.”
Cost
Ben said that a tremendous amount of money goes into this sort of vehicle, starting with purchasing a quality vehicle that drives well. After that money goes into making both the interior and exterior exactly what you want.
“The downstairs lounge in the Pamperbus, for example, was nearly £3,000 just for upholstery,” Ben said. “On top of that there’s carpets, wood, electronics, CCTV and so on. The lights are around £12 each and there are about 80 on this bus. The worktops were re-covered three times which is another four-figure job.
“It’s like a car, you can spend £1,000 or £100,000, it all depends on how good you want it to look. I want all our work to be done properly and look the part.
“We can add some aspects later on. The Playbuses originally went out with no air-conditioning. Once they had earned enough money we had the air-conditioning systems fitted. On this bus we want it to have a real ‘wow’ factor, so all the important aspects are going in from the start.
“We estimate we’ve saved around £30,000 with recycling materials and carrying out the majority of the labour in-house. The upholstery and carpeting has cost the most. The overall cost has been tremendous but as you can see it was well worth the outcome!”
Bookings and plans
“In terms of costs for the customer, this vehicle will start at £275 for three hours and an additional £50 for every hour after that,” Ben explained. “The Playbuses start with two hours, but we decided on three for the Pamperbus because of the TV –you can’t finish a film in two hours. We can do whole days and weekends if there’s the demand for it.
“We’re going to keep the numbers to 10 for each party – that way there’s enough room for everyone and it doesn’t feel cramped. There’ll also be plenty of activities for people to choose from without them having to wait their turn. Likewise if everyone wants to watch a film there’s enough space for all of them in the upstairs lounge.
“The Pamperbus will start as a self service with various items included, but we have some young girls who can be brought in just to lend a hand or there’s the option to hire a professional we recommend or one of their choice. We’ll also offer items like a slush machine, mocktails, popcorn machine – all of which can be added on. Alternatively customers can bring their own food and drink.
“We will always stay with the vehicle, as with the Playbuses, because the electrical systems in these are quite complicated, so if something trips we need someone with experience to put it right. That’s why I’m putting a door on the cab, so that there’s someone here all the time, but they’re not interfering with the party.
“On past experience with building the Playbuses I haven’t made any advance bookings yet. With the last Playbus, if I didn’t have all the help I did, I wouldn’t have done it on time. Obviously people are aware of the Pamperbus’ existence, but I said strictly no bookings until it was completely ready.
“It went to a three-day concert a few weekends ago with some well-known musicians using this vehicle and my Dad’s sleeper coaches. They were using this as a dressing room and chill-out area – they loved it even though they’re not the demographic we’re aiming for!”
Current business and the future
Ben said that business in general is really good at the moment and the work itself is always fun.
“The two Playbuses we’ve got are working really hard and I’m sure if we had 10 they’d all have work,” he enthused. “We’re getting to the point where we’re having to turn people away who want to book us for birthday parties. It’s not nice having to say no, but we’re managing to book people in for the following year. I’m very happy with how it’s going. We only did the concert because they wanted the sleepers and were really interested in this vehicle as well, despite it not being ready at the time.
“There are two of us full-time with Playbus now but I could do with taking on another person but we’re not quite at that point. I want to see where things are once everything with the Pamperbus has settled. I do think the Pamperbus could get very popular very fast, like the Playbuses.
“We were planning on having a launch party to get the word out about the Pamperbus, but we’ve had just a good response already we now don’t feel it’s necessary. There isn’t anything like this on this scale in the UK.
“Next year I want to concentrate on event planning and organising our own events such as the Playbus fun day we did two years ago.
“For a matching boys bus, we’re not certain what we would do. I’ve seen Gamersbus around, but I haven’t met Gary yet who runs it (see CBW1213). We were potentially going to work together a while ago as I had a customer ask if I would mind doing a party with him, which I had no problem with. Unfortunately that never happened.
“With him covering the gaming side, I wouldn’t do anything similar. I have an idea for the boys bus, but I’m keeping that a secret for now!”
Final thoughts
Ben explained how much time and effort went into the construction of the Pamperbus.
“The last three weeks of working we were finishing at midnight and coming back in again at 0530hrs to start again – that was just what we had to do in order to get it done,” said Ben. “There were four of us in here at the end. It was hectic, tiring and frustrating. We were living on pizza – the delivery man ended up knowing our orders by heart.
“It’s been very, very hard, but without the help and support of my family and friends, especially my Mum, Dad, and Zoe, it wouldn’t have happened. But it’s definitely been worth it.”
