Great Grottos operate professional Christmas Grottos & Santa experiences.

We do so for Shopping Centres, Garden Centres & destination venues.

Grotto Management:
We assume full responsibility for the operation of your Grotto, providing:
Santas, Elves, Manager, Costumes, Gifts, Souvenir Photography, Ticketing, Customer Service & Insurance.

Grotto Installation:
The installation of Christmas Grottos.

Grotto Visit Enhancements:
Additions to the Traditional Santa Visit that enhance the value & narrative of the Santa experience.

Social Obligation
Great Grottos believe we have a social obligation to operate our Grottos to a high standard.

Client's Reputation
And, we understand that it is our client’s reputation at stake throughout.

Yes. We specialise in Christmas Grottos for Shopping Centres & Garden Centres across the UK.

We have operated in over 200 top retail locations.

Yes. We've have experience in every form of Grotto enhancement that adds value and enhances the narrative of the Grotto.

You can find those we provide at | Grotto Enhancements

We operate across the UK.

These are a few of our clients.

All Santas & Elves are professionally recruited and trained.

They are performance-ready, and briefed on customer experience, safeguarding, and venue standards.

We also conduct an on site Training Day at the Grotto for the full team.

We hire a team of Santas & Elves.

We recruit more staff than necessary.

We also operate many Grottos. One of our Santas is never far away...

DBS checks are available and provided where required.

Safeguarding is a core part of our operation.

Yes. Our ticketing platform is designed specifically for Grotto bookings.

It manages visit timings, SEN sessions, school bookings and special requests.

Our Head Office team are available 7 days a week to receive customer enquiries regarding their Santa visit.

Yes. All Santa & Elf costumes are provided and maintained by Great Grottos.

Each is handmade and sized to the team member.

Our Grotto teams also receive spare costume parts, just in case.

A great place to see our costumes in action is Great Grottos - Instagram.

Yes. All of Santa's gifts are delivered in advance.

It is important children receive age appropriate gifts that also reflect the ticket fee.

So these are split into 6 age groups.

We provide full Risk Assessments, Method Statements, and Safeguarding Policies.

Public Liability Insurance is provided up to £10m.

Our Grottos are public venues with high footfall.

We regularly operate multiple Grottos simultaneously across different locations, with centralised reporting.

We can customise staff costumes, photography, gifts and the ticketing platform.

We also design Grottos to suit the venue, brand guidelines and availability of space.

We hope to have the opportunity to offer input into Grotto floor plans to:
  • Improve customer flow.
  • Assess staffing locations.
  • Ensure space is used efficiently.

We can often also reduce the burden for clients building their own Grotto, without impacting the customer experience.

Our minimum requirements are:
  • Storage space for stock.
  • Changing location for staff.
  • Availability of the Grotto prior to launch.

Our clients are involved in the process to the extent to which they wish to be.

They often meet the team on Training Day and provide key focuses for us when engaging with their customers.

The marketing & advertising of the Grotto is the only element we do not provide.

If you are planning your own Grotto, here is a list of helpful considerations.

  • Where to located the Grotto - visible Grottos are more popular with Walk Ins.
  • Will the Grotto have an overarching narrative that combines all elements of the experience.
  • The time allowed, per visit, per family - don't forget the time taken to enter & exit Santa's chamber.
  • How long will it take children to walk from the front of the queue to meet Santa.
  • If there is a pre-Santa activity, is there sufficient space to wait after the activity and before meeting Santa.
  • If there is a pre-Santa activity, can families perform this quickly enough such that it does not cause cumulative delays.
  • Are you having a launch event.
  • Are there customer expectations from previous years that impact this year's experience.
  • What instruction will you provide during staff training.
  • Whether to perform individual or group visits.
  • Does the value of the gift plus the experience, exceed the ticket price.
  • What is your refund policy.
  • Should a cap be placed on the number of concurrent children and/or adults visiting Santa.
  • How large should Santa's chamber be.
  • Can the Grotto floor plan be adjusted to help the Grotto team without impacting the experience.
  • Should Santa be in the open or enclosed.
  • Is Santa's chamber bright enough for photos.
  • Where electrical points are needed.
  • Is there space for buggies & wheelchairs.
  • How long will the day be for performers. And, when may they take breaks.
  • How many Santas & Elves should you recruit to be resilient.
  • How to be sure Santas & Elves have costumes that fit.
  • What budget will you assign to Santa's gifts.
  • What age ranges of gift will you source.
  • Will you provide souvenir photography.
  • When to release bookings.
  • Will you accept both walk ups and bookings.
  • How many queues will you have.
  • Will you provide dedicated SEN sessions.
  • Will you offer school bookings.
  • Are dogs allowed to meet Santa.
  • Is there obtrusive background noise.
  • Will you have background music.
  • Have you allocated storage space for Santa's gifts.
  • How far will you locate the stock from the Grotto.
  • Will staff and families be warm enough.
  • Where will staff get changed.
If you would like help with your Grotto, get in touch. We are happy to share our knowledge.

Contact us here to discuss your venue, space, dates, and requirements.

Our proposals are tailored based on our client's needs.