Business Archives

Employment tribunals and early years: what you need to know

Running an early years’ business means you’ve already got plenty on your plate – from supporting children to managing day-to-day operations, dealing with an employment tribunal is likely the last thing you want to think about. But with 97,000 claims made in 2023/24 – and the highest award reaching £995,000 – it’s an issue that’s… Continue reading Employment tribunals and early years: what you need to know

Contemplating the sale of your nursery business? Here’s what you need to consider.

By Courteney Donaldson, Managing Director – Childcare & Education, Christie & Co Owning and operating a day nursery business can be incredibly rewarding. Equally, though, there are times when it can be challenging, and you may wish to sell. In this article, Courteney Donaldson, Managing Director – Childcare & Education at Christie & Co, shares… Continue reading Contemplating the sale of your nursery business? Here’s what you need to consider.

Nursery leaders and nursery managers: what’s the difference?

Explore the difference between nursery leaders and nursery managers and understand the vital role each plays in making a fantastic early years setting. Effective leadership and management skills are vital to providing high-quality childcare. Crucially, inspectors will make a judgement on how effectively these skills are put into practice for the benefit of the children. … Continue reading Nursery leaders and nursery managers: what’s the difference?

Financial management systems for nurseries and early years settings

Here are some hints and tips on keeping accounting records and choosing a nursery management system. Accounting records for your nursery The accounting records you need when running a childcare business are: The profit and loss account (also known as the income and expenditure statement) is a statement which shows whether your business has made… Continue reading Financial management systems for nurseries and early years settings

Marketing your nursery: defining your nursery’s unique selling point (USP)

Discover how you can define your nursery’s unique selling point (USP) – how your nursery is different to others. When you have your USP, you can use this to market your nursery to parents who will be most keen on what you have to offer. See more top tips for marketing your nursery here. 1.… Continue reading Marketing your nursery: defining your nursery’s unique selling point (USP)

Preparing nursery businesses for winter

Motorists get their cars ready for the gruelling winter months, householders make sure their garden and home are braced for any storms or floods – and nursery business owners should do the same. Obviously incidents can happen at any time but they are more likely to occur with bad and unpredictable weather and the shorter… Continue reading Preparing nursery businesses for winter

The Worker Protection Act for nurseries

We speak to Gill McAteer from Citation to understand more about how early years settings will be impacted by The Worker Protection Act. What does it mean for your early years setting? The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 came into force on 26 October 2024 – and now, all employers are… Continue reading The Worker Protection Act for nurseries

Marketing your nursery – top tips

Find out why you should be marketing your nursery and the first steps you need to take in your marketing strategy – researching and planning. Why you should invest in marketing your nursery Marketing your nursery effectively will help nursery owners or managers to attract parents and increase nursery occupancy. A nursery with a strong… Continue reading Marketing your nursery – top tips

Nursery leadership and management: How to build a team

This blog will cover nursery leadership and management of a team. It will explain the different types of team roles and how you can utilise these to make the team effective. It will also cover how to develop your team so that they have the right skills to support children in the nursery. Forming and… Continue reading Nursery leadership and management: How to build a team

Financial planning in nurseries – how to get started

See our top tips for nursery financial planning and management, ideal if you want to start a nursery business. Our latest series of blog posts will introduce prospective nursery owners and managers to the main aspects of financial planning and management. These tips will help you to create effective financial plans and to understand how… Continue reading Financial planning in nurseries – how to get started