Perform

What Perform does

Perform (legally Perform Workshops Ltd.) is a UK-based children's performing arts school delivering drama, dance, and singing classes to children aged 4-12. Founded in 1999 by Lucy Quick, the company operates through a venue-based network of 250-350+ community locations — church halls, schools, and community centres — spread across 24+ English counties, with a central headquarters in London. The core offering consists of age-differentiated weekly classes for 4-7s and 7-12s, supplemented by multi-day holiday courses, online LAMDA exam preparation, annual West End theatrical productions, a Challenge Awards recognition programme, Interview Technique preparation, and a school outreach product called Perform for Schools. Perform is privately held with 101-250 employees, no disclosed institutional funding, and operates under Ofsted registration for regulatory compliance.

The business runs a direct-to-consumer model with multiple revenue streams. Primary revenue comes from termly subscriptions for weekly classes (10-12 week terms during the academic year), with parents booking through the website. Secondary streams include pay-as-you-go holiday courses, online LAMDA sessions (one-hour classes of up to ten students), and an e-commerce shop selling themed costumes, accessories, music, DVDs, and branded clothing at price points ranging from £3.20 to £24.00. Customer acquisition is driven by free trial classes at every venue, a £30 new-customer incentive for mailing list subscribers, social media presence across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Vimeo, parent referrals, and an annual West End show as brand content. The centralised, non-franchised operating model — with directly recruited and trained teachers, Area Partners overseeing regional venue clusters, and multiple Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leaders — is positioned as a quality control differentiator.

The proprietary intellectual property centres on the curriculum and content library rather than software. Perform builds its own songs, scripts, games, and dances on termly themes (e.g., Mermaids & Pirates, Super Hero School, Jack and the Wonderbeans) and organises teaching around the 4 Cs framework — Confidence, Concentration, Communication, and Coordination. The digital footprint is modest: a website with postcode-based venue search, e-commerce checkout, embedded video, mobile apps for between-class engagement, and standard marketing integrations. No APIs, SDKs, or proprietary technology platforms are publicly disclosed, and there is no evidence of AI/ML capability. The business is fundamentally a high-touch, human-delivered services operation whose defensibility rests on content authorship, venue density, brand longevity, and centralised quality control.

Name

Perform

Legal name

Perform Workshops Ltd.

Website

https://perform.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Perform is a UK children's performing arts school delivering drama, dance, and singing classes for ages 4-12 across 350+ community venues, founded in 1999. Revenue comes from termly class subscriptions, holiday courses, online LAMDA prep, school outreach, and branded merchandise.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Children's Performing Arts Education

NAICS

Fine Arts Schools (61161), Performing Arts Companies (7111)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Children’s & Youth Theatre (MPAGABAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Workshops & Masterclasses (Live, Audience-Facing) (MPAGACAM)

Keywords

• Children's drama classes
• Performing arts education
• Youth acting classes
• LAMDA exam preparation
• School holiday programs

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Weekly Class Fees: Weekly drama, dance and singing classes for children aged 4-12, billed per term (typically 10-12 weeks per term)
2. Holiday Course Fees: Holiday courses for 4-10s running over 3, 4 or 5 days during school holidays, including drama, dance and singing
3. Shop Products: Sale of performance recordings (DVDs), music albums (mp3s and CDs), costumes, accessories, and branded merchandise including t-shirts and hoodies
4. LAMDA Online Classes: Online LAMDA exam preparation classes with sessions lasting one hour accommodating up to ten students

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Perform delivers weekly drama, dance and singing classes for children aged 4-12 across 350+ community venues throughout England, built on an in-house curriculum organised around termly themes and the proprietary "4 Cs" developmental framework. The core subscription offering is supplemented by multi-day holiday courses, online LAMDA exam preparation classes, a primary-school outreach programme, an annual West End theatrical production, and a branded merchandise shop.

Product overview

Perform is a children's drama school offering a unified portfolio of performing arts education services centered around weekly drama, dance and singing classes. The core offering consists of age-differentiated weekly classes for 4-7s and 7-12s, supplemented by holiday courses, LAMDA exam preparation, and annual West End theatrical productions. Additional revenue streams include themed merchandise (costumes, accessories, clothing, music/DVDs) sold through the Perform Shop. The company also operates a school outreach program called Perform for Schools.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Weekly Drama Classes for 4-7s Weekly term-time drama, dance and singing classes for children aged 4-7, combining catchy songs, games and energetic dances within termly themes to build social skills through imaginative play and interactive storytelling.
• Weekly Drama Classes for 7-12s Weekly term-time drama, dance and singing classes for children aged 7-12, focused on refining social skills, building self-assurance, and preparing children for the adult world through acting, singing and movement.
• Holiday Courses Multi-day drama, dance and singing courses for children aged 4-10 during UK school holidays, with games, arts and crafts and a culminating performance with costumes and original songs.
• LAMDA Online Classes Online group LAMDA (London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art) exam preparation sessions for young performers, covering acting and public speaking, with up to ten students per one-hour class.
• Perform for Schools In-school drama, dance and singing programme delivered directly within UK primary schools as a structured performing arts enrichment offering.
• Perform Shop - Costumes Themed children's costumes based on Perform show themes (Mermaids & Pirates, Super Hero School, Jack & The Wonderbeans, The Dream, Magical Merlin, Jungle Rumble, Wild West, Circus Adventure, Fairytale Forest, Midnight in the Toyshop, etc.), priced £16.00-£24.00.
• Perform Shop - Accessories Theatrical accessories for Perform shows including wigs, hats, glasses, crowns and other costume pieces, priced £3.20-£21.00.
• Perform Shop - T-shirts & Hoodies Branded Perform clothing including cast t-shirts for various shows and performance hoodies; t-shirts priced £8.50-£10.00 and hoodies at £20.00.
• Perform Shop - Music & DVDs Digital albums (mp3, £5.00) and CDs/DVDs (£10.00) featuring original Perform songs and performances from themed shows including Midnight in the Toyshop, Jack & the Wonderbeans, Rome 'n Jewels, Fairytale Forest, The Dream, and Super Hero School.

Quantifiable outcome

• Children build greater confidence, improve concentration, and increase awareness of what they can achieve

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature4 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Helen O'Grady Drama Academy: International children's drama school franchise operating across the UK, focused on confidence-building drama classes for children. Closely comparable to Perform on customer segment (children), curriculum (drama-led), and venue-based weekly class delivery, though primarily a franchised model rather than centrally operated.
• Pauline Quirke Academy of Performing Arts: UK network of performing arts academies offering classes in drama, singing and dancing for children. Directly comparable on curriculum, customer base and Saturday/weekend venue-based delivery model, competing with Perform in overlapping regions.
• Stagecoach Performing Arts: UK's largest franchised performing arts school network offering drama, dance and singing for children 4-18, with 300+ franchise venues. Directly comparable operating model (weekly term-time classes), customer base (parents of children 4-12), and curriculum (theatre arts) to Perform, but operates via franchisees rather than centrally-run venues.
• Razzamataz Theatre Schools: UK franchised network of part-time performing arts schools for children and teens offering dance, drama and singing. Comparable on weekly class format, age segments, and fees, and competes directly with Perform in many UK regions. Differences: Razzamataz franchises individual territories whereas Perform runs centrally.

Broad incumbents

• YMCA (performing arts and youth programmes): UK-wide charity network delivering children's activity, holiday and youth programmes including performing arts. Comparable customer segment (parents booking holiday courses and weekly youth activities) and venue network, with overlap on holiday-course delivery; broader and less performing-arts-specialised than Perform.
• Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts: One of the UK's oldest performing arts training institutions with a junior school offering weekend and holiday classes for children. Comparable in curriculum (drama, dance, singing) and child audience, though it leans more towards performance-track progression than Perform's developmental/confidence focus.
• Premier Sports Coaching: UK provider of after-school and holiday activity programmes for primary schools including dance and drama. Comparable venue-based operating model, primary-school customer overlap, and holiday-course delivery format. Broader portfolio (multi-sport) dilutes curriculum depth relative to Perform's performing arts focus.

Emerging players

• Explore Learning: UK tutoring and enrichment provider serving children of similar age ranges via after-school classes (maths and English). Comparable on subscription-class venue model for parents, child development positioning, and UK centre footprint, though product is academic rather than performing-arts focused.

Regional players

• Little Movers / Mighty Dancers: UK children's dance and movement providers offering weekly classes to children in community venues. Comparable on venue-based weekly children's class format and parent-as-purchaser model, with overlap on dance sub-curriculum though generally not as deep on drama and singing as Perform.
• Creative Kidz (and similar regional holiday clubs): UK-based providers of themed performing arts and multi-activity holiday clubs for children aged 4-12. Directly comparable product (3-5 day holiday courses with performance/showcase format) and competitive overlap with Perform's holiday-course offering, though typically regional single-county operators.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/performuk
• Facebookfacebook.com/PerformUK
• Instagraminstagram.com/perform_uk
• Xx.com/PerformUK
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/perform-workshops-ltd-

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Perform