"I noticed a bonfire was slightly out of control and an adjacent hedge had caught fire," the entrepreneur explains. "So I used the watering can next to the fire to try and douse the hedge." Unfortunately, though, the watering can was actually full of petrol.
"The HSA officer laughed, at least, and it took about half an hour to get the fire under control - we had to replant the hedge though!"
Luckily for Farley and his co-founder Nick de Candole, the firefighting was a one-off. Their family entertainment business, The Escapade Group, started with two soft-play style activity centres in Croydon and Romford, and now has four sites, including a vast 126-acre Hobbledown Heath opening in Hounslow this month. This year Escapade is expected to welcome 1.3 million visitors and hit a £16 million annual turnover.
It started when the duo, both now 54 but friends since meeting as teenagers, started a property development business together in 2000. Five years on, they wanted to do something different and had contrasting ideas. De Candole wanted to create an upmarket children's playcentre model, Farley had an ambition to launch "a premium gymwear brand - a 'Sweaty Bob' for men". The pair flipped a coin "and here we are," Farley laughs. He doesn't seem to mind backing his friend's idea "although I do look at Gymshark and think we could have made it a success!".
Esta historia es de la edición July 11, 2022 de Evening Standard.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición July 11, 2022 de Evening Standard.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Only £65k a month to live like Boy George
The Karma Chameleon singer listed his house for £17m in 2022, turning down offers. Now, he's looking for a tenant
Welcome to London, unicorn capital of Europe
We're flying far ahead of anywhere outside US for tech investment
Arteta's Arsenal evolution The next phase
Malik Ouzia and Simon Collings assess how the Spaniard will try to bring down Man City after he signs up for another three years with the title in his sights
Title fight catches fire after Gunners embrace dark side
Arsenal-City clashes take on a welcome edge of animosity
Whack the hippy gong-boho's back
It happened in Paris one grey February day. Sienna Miller was in an oversized, black leather jacket, lace-trimmed silk slip and clumpy great wedges.
There's a Starlink waiting in the sky... 7,000 in fact.Can Elon Musk stop them crashing to Earth?
As he was preparing his fields for seeding this year, Barry Sawchuk came across a giant slab of space debris. It had come from a spacecraft belonging to Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX.
'Politicians are only into power-mongering, corruption and cronyism'
We speak to alt revolutionary DEEPAK CHOPRA about biomarkers, his digital twin and his work to save humanity from disease
I've been waiting for a production of Godotthis brilliant all my life
Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati bring a potent, tragicomic chemistry to James Macdonald’s rich revival of Samuel Beckett’s challenging play.
Trust me, the Ritz is London's bestrestaurant
To whom we turn in moments of gloom and glory can be instructive, a filter of our truest friends. I've fallen out with the Ritz a couple of times, including once after a visit to the bar which didn’t warrant a review (“But you said it was lovely!” they said.
'Healing is a dirty word'
After four traumatic years, FKA twigs is back with a new album -and a thrilling metamorphosis