I'm Gary Spencer Bonehill, and I carry out playground inspections in Bolton and across the borough. My base in Chorley is about 11 miles north of Bolton — roughly 20 minutes via the M61. It's one of my closest areas.

Bolton is a large town with plenty of parks, schools, and leisure facilities that need regular play equipment inspections. From Queens Park and Leverhulme Park through to school playgrounds across Horwich, Farnworth, and Westhoughton, I know the area well and can get to most sites quickly.

I inspect outdoor playgrounds and indoor soft play centres to BS EN 1176 and BS EN 1177 standards.

Bolton falls within Greater Manchester, so it's covered by a number of large national inspection companies. Playground Safety Inspector, Certified Playground Inspections, and The Play Inspection Company all list Bolton in their service areas. These are big outfits with networks of inspectors across the country.

The thing about national companies is you don't always know who's turning up. You deal with a central office to arrange the booking, and they send whichever inspector is available in your region. You might get someone excellent, or you might get someone you've never met before who doesn't know the area.

There are also companies in Greater Manchester that combine equipment sales, installation, and inspection services. While their inspectors may be perfectly qualified, there's always a question about independence when the same company that inspects your playground also wants to sell you new equipment.

Here's what I offer as an alternative:

• Genuinely independent. I don't sell or install equipment. I inspect it, report honestly on what I find, and leave it at that. No conflict of interest.
• Direct relationship. You deal with me from start to finish. No call centre, no intermediary. If you have a question about your report, you ring me and I explain it.
• Local to Bolton. I'm 20 minutes away in Chorley. I'm not being dispatched from a head office somewhere down south.
• Engineering background. I spent 25 years as a mechanical engineer before becoming a play inspector. I understand how equipment fails, how materials degrade, and what wear patterns actually mean — not just what the checklist says to look for.
• RPII registered. Same professional qualifications as inspectors at the national firms. No difference in standards, just a better service.

I cover Bolton town centre and the surrounding areas including Horwich, Farnworth, Westhoughton, Atherton, Little Lever, and Kearsley. If you're responsible for play equipment anywhere in the Bolton borough, get in touch for a quote.