About Us

A Family Business

Funfair Props are part of the Mannings’ group of companies who can trace their history in the fairground business back well over 170 years. For the past 10 years the company have specialised in providing funfair equipment for use by film companies. We also operate public fairs and corporate events, as well as importing and exporting top quality rides and attractions to and from all around the world.

The Manning family in Genoa, Italy 2003

Our quality is demonstrated by our having been selected to provide the fairground input for the major central London Festivals that have been a feature of London life for the past 9 years, since we produced the magnificent London’s Fair on The Mall in 1999 for the Millennium night celebrations. This festival was attended by well over 1 million people and we also put the same attention into more local carnivals, such as our June Event in Tottenham which attracts tens of thousands over two days, the Mayor of London’s Rise Festival in Finsbury Park with over 100,000 visitors, the Mayor of Newham’s Town Show in East London and the annual family fairs we run throughout the country, including the Bank Holiday funfairs in Finsbury Park which are enjoyed by all.

It is a testament to our company that we were selected to operate our family fairs in the historic towns of St Albans, where we are close to the Verulamium Roman Ruins and Britain’s oldest city of Colchester as both of these towns require quality from any entertainment providers they permit. We proudly present a special promotion for the armed forces in Colchester Garrison to recognise the debt we owe to our troops and to their families. We specialise in community festivals reflecting the multi cultural nature of Britain today, including the Hindu Festival at the Temple in Neasden.

However over the past 15 years we have been delighted to work with large and small film production companies and to assist them in utilising fairground equipment as back drops and scenes for their work.

On the set of BBC's Casualty

We have been involved in major TV programmes, advertisements, still shots, documentaries and dramas plus comedy series and sketches. We learnt at a very early stage that the needs of film companies must be understood and respected with timetables and shooting schedules and that our staff have to be trained to meet these needs in a flexible way. Our success in implementing this approach is the reason for our popularity.

Funfair Props also can provide much more as we also work as consultants to the industry, giving advice and guidance on scripts and scenarios to ensure they truely reflect reality. Regardless of the set, we believe the public should expect the same high standards as if they were watching something in their front rooms at home or a feature presentation at the cinema.

We can assist in finding ideal locations for filming or even use our own premises which is convieniently close to the M25 in north London; our own location has found to have greatly assisted many previous clients who had hard pressed schedules and strict budgets.

Finally, fairground equipment is very versatile and with the lights, designs and options with our skilled carpenters and workmen we can assist you find unusual props for background work in fashion shoots. You would be amazed at the way in which we can help you. Visit our sister site Carnivalfunfairs.com for more information on our history and look at our innovations section so that you can see exactly what we mean!

That is why if you are considering using fairground equipment for your shoot, you should contact us as your first port of call.