Pebble helps Beyond Blocks build its reputation

Andy Hoang has a background in science teaching and learning technologies — and a lifelong love of LEGO. 

“The plan had always been to open up some sort of LEGO Robotics kids’ activity, but I had a stable job, kids and a mortgage to pay, so it had never come to fruition,” Andy shares. Then, during the Covid pandemic, he ended up working back in a school. “The only part of it I enjoyed was running my LEGO Robotics club. And I saw how bad computing education has got in schools. I thought: Wait a minute, I can make a living out of this. I really enjoy it. And I can make a difference in schools by taking in my knowledge and my kit.”

That was 3.5 years ago, and Andy’s business Beyond Blocks has grown quickly since. From just two kids in their first term, they were running four full classes within a year. Fast forward to now, and Beyond Blocks has a team of four teachers, runs after-school clubs in London schools and other venues, and runs daytime sessions for schools as part of the curriculum. They do events, too: full-day sessions during schools’ coding weeks across the UK, plus corporate events. All getting kids — and adults — involved in programming, engineering and design through LEGO. 

Thinking outside the box

His time back teaching was a wake-up call for Andy, he explains. “Schools are struggling to teach basic computer science, even though it’s been on the curriculum since 2017. But the kids will say to you: At home, we’re doing all this cool stuff. And at school, we should be pushing that further, right?!”

Andy realised he could make schools a great offer: no need to buy the LEGO Robotics kit, no need to learn how to use it, just bring Beyond Blocks in to run sessions. “The kids are all well up for it, they roll their sleeves up and get stuck in,” he says. And those first sessions tend to turn Andy into a regular fixture in schools, running activities within and outside their timetable. 

“The kids really want to do LEGO, but lots of people don’t know how powerful this stuff is. LEGO is a vocabulary; building can help you articulate your thoughts, and play with and evolve your ideas. I want to give kids the chance to push themselves, too: programming robots is hard, and lots of kids give up on hard things. So Beyond Blocks is about learning to deal with things not working, grit your teeth and keep going, then relish that lightbulb moment. We give kids a toolkit to solve their own problems, in our sessions and in life. That’s where our tagline comes from: we build great people using LEGO.”

Really good system, really good team 

Andy had known about Pebble for a while, after seeing us at kids’ activities conferences like ICAP. He rolled out his Beyond Blocks summer camps on Pebble in 2024, and shared these highlights:

Guest checkout, Google Pay & Apple Pay 

Knowing that lots of parents are reluctant to sign up for accounts when they book activities, Andy appreciated Pebble’s flexible ways to pay. “It’s so much easier for time-pressed parents, who mostly book using their phones,” he says. “Term on term, Pebble will help make our sign-ups super easy.” 

The best-looking booking system

“I’ve looked at a lot of booking systems and Pebble has the best layout,” Andy adds. “It’s thought of so many details to make it hassle-free for parents to book and get to sessions: clear images, location maps, session descriptions and intuitive flows.”

Easy to collect parent reviews

Everyone was telling Andy that you need to get reviews to grow trust and raise your profile as a business, “but only Pebble actually makes it easy to get customer reviews,” he says. “Before, I was begging and pleading for them from parents who I knew loved our Beyond Blocks sessions, but only got about 15 in three years!”

“I was so impressed with how customer-centric the platform is, and how it prompts parents to review right when it’s most convenient for them. And, most importantly, Pebble’s taken getting reviews off my to-do list.”

Handy registers on mobile

“It was important for us that we can see our registers easily on phones, and Pebble has a brilliant mobile-first strategy,” Andy shares. “We use mobiles a lot in our sessions, so the platform’s large icons and readable text are great.”

Read more about Pebble’s award-winning management software for kids’ activity providers here.