The Beginnings
Hello, my name is Mike, the founder of Freedom. It all began when Google was still in nappies, the internet was reserved for the likes of NASA and mobile phones were more brick-like than smart. The year 1996, my light-bulb moment came in the pub (or was it the shower) when planning my friends stag do, it was like herding cats. My mission was to make life easy for group organisers, travelling around the UK and Europe negotiating party deals. Now more than 25 years on, how lucky I am doing what I love with a team of 17 party gurus.
Behind the scenes you’ll find a relaxed and informal office, if we're not talking with customers on the phone, chasing the hottest accommodation deals you’ll find us having a sing-song / bickering over the album on play, or engaging in 'aircon wars'.
Largely due to our fun and friendly company culture our staff retention rate is probably the highest in the industry, which is where our extensive product knowledge comes in. We get out there and 'have a go' and actually count so many of our suppliers as friends. We try before you buy.
What We Do
We organise real tailor made quality events with transparent pricing and super flexible terms.
"We won’t claim to be market leaders, we don’t need to be, we certainly don’t follow the crowd either. We simply march to the beat of our own drum with our customers’ needs setting the tempo. Which is exactly why we believe our customer service is unrivalled in our market" says Carol.
We understand just how precious time spent with friends is, and especially precious when that weekend happens to be one of the biggest and most memorable of their lives, it’s a big task. We have the knowledge, the experience and the passion to make sure this goes just how it should.
The Future
Over the years we have developed MyFreedom "a party organisers dream: invite your guests online, let them pay in instalments, manage your activities and download your tickets. The latest addition to this great tool is the ability to hide certain activities from the Special Person. We've always been an advocate of surprising the birthday girl (or stitching the stag up!)" says Kevin.
You can be guaranteed as we approach half a million customers, 250 activities and 50 locations that we will make planning your next event "effortless and tailor-made".
Time Line
1996 - Freedom was formed
1998 - Limited company status
2000 - Birthday and Christmas parties added
2003 - Plush new offices
2004 - Exclusivity with lastminute.com
2006 - Individual payment system launched
2008 - Over 100,000 customers
2010 - Exclusivity with Alton Towers / THORPE PARK
2013 - Top party planner on the Review Centre
2015 - Internally promoted GM runs the show (aged 27)
2016 - 20th Birthday Bash
2018 - Over 50 locations UK and Abroad
2019 - New website and locations Chester, Lisbon and Albufeira
2020 - Freedom survived Covid with support from HSBC
2021 - All jobs saved and ready to party again
2022 - Biggest year ever for Freedom, launching Party Houses
2023 - Freedom becomes Employee owned (like John Lewis)
