How much does it cost to hire fairground rides from Premier Rides?

Updated

Premier Rides publishes two starting prices: Dodgems from £2,600 + VAT for the day, and children's rides from £595 + VAT. Those are entry points, not fixed quotes — the site states that long hours, weekends and location can all affect the price, so the only reliable figure is the one you get from a quote. The company hires to corporate events and private parties only, and does not attend events where it pays a pitch fee and charges the public.

Published starting prices

Ride category Starting price Notes from the site
Dodgems £2,600 + VAT per day Described as the most popular ride; long hours, weekends and location can affect the price
Children's rides £595 + VAT Includes Cup & Saucer, Chair O Planes and similar
Mini Carousel £995 Priced higher because it is an older ride assembled piece by piece, which means it can go inside venues with tight access

The site also lists family rides (big wheels, dodgems, waltzers) and adult rides (Sky Diver, Extreme and similar) as separate categories, but only the figures above carry a published starting price. Anything else needs a quote.

What actually moves the price

Three factors are named directly on the site:

  • Long hours — a longer operating day costs more than a standard day.
  • Weekends — weekend dates can be priced differently from weekdays.
  • Location — distance and access affect the price.

There is also an access dimension worth raising early. Premier Rides states it has worked at most venues over 30+ years and knows the access and ground issues some current venue managers are not aware of. If your site has tight access, that is not just a logistics question — it can determine which rides are even possible, and the mini carousel's higher price exists precisely because it can be taken apart and moved inside venues with restricted entry.

Getting a quote

The site directs you to a ride quote page where you fill in your details. It also states you can come to the company direct for better prices, so going straight to Premier Rides rather than through an intermediary is presented as the cheaper route.

Two cautions appear alongside the pricing:

  • Do not choose purely on the lowest price.
  • Do not pay upfront.

The site's reasoning is that at least 30 events a year are let down by rides that fail to arrive, and it positions itself against that pattern by pointing to clients who have rebooked annually since 1994.

Who can hire, and who cannot

Premier Rides describes itself as not a public fairground company — it does not appear on village greens charging the public. It attends corporate events and private parties only, and explicitly does not attend events where the organiser expects the ride operator to pay a pitch fee and then charge the public for rides. If that is your model, you need a fairground company rather than Premier Rides.

Practical next step

Before requesting a quote, have these ready: your date, whether it falls on a weekend, your operating hours, the venue and its access constraints, and which ride categories you want. Those are the same variables the site says drive the price, so a quote request that includes them will come back more accurate than a general enquiry.