Nursery World - Analysis: Strength in numbers

Private nursery owners are finding new ways to share informaton and action, reports Karen Faux.

Local childcare providers who group together to form networks are steadily gaining more clout. As one network chair puts it, 'Once nurseries create a formal network, the local authority has to take them more seriously. Suddenly they are in a position to influence the things that affect them.'

The National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) has strenuously been supporting networks in recent months, encouraging local groups to form them officially within its own guidelines. Currently there are 23 official NDNA networks and five affiliated groups, with more about to come to fruition.

But many networks have been running independently of the NDNA for a very long time. The Nottingham network, of which nursery owner Valerie Holland is the co-director, was originally launched 18 years ago and only decided to become part of the NDNA in order to enhance what it was already doing.

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