With over six months of successful trading under the belt of the Gateway Nursery and Pre-school in Harlow, Essex, owner and manager Emma Pike is confident about weathering the challenges that 2011 is expected to bring.
'When we took over the site last July, occupancy was struggling and the existing 11 staff were all concerned about losing their jobs,' she says. 'However, we have now built occupancy and we employ a total of 19 staff and feel the business is going from strength to strength.'
Overall, the nursery now takes 11 children in its baby room, 32 in its toddler room and 56 children in its pre-school. Word of mouth has been a strong factor in boosting the popularity of the site, which has been refurbished under its new ownership. Ms Pike has tried to use all the available space imaginatively.
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