Nursery World - Nursery Management: Case Study - Footprints learning for Life Nursery

The determination to provide an all-round service for families and get the right staff has helped a former policewoman rescue a nursery that was about to close. Katy Morton reports.

Afailing nursery has been going from strength to strength thanks to a new owner aiming to ease the work/life pressure on parents.

When former police officer Sharon Birch took over the renamed Footprints Learning for Life Nursery in Hartlepool five years ago, she decided to use her experience as a mother to help other parents.

She explains, 'In 2005 I had to retire from the police force, where I had worked for 20 years, after discovering that I and my three children all have a debilitating genetic condition.

'It was at the same time that I learned that the nursery, which my children then attended, was due to close because the owners had become insolvent. I was persuaded by parents to take over the running of the setting, which was in a converted police station.

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