The Natural Childcare Company, an 84-place nursery in Solihull in the West Midlands, which opened in February 2008, was named best new business at the awards, held in May at Warwick Castle.
Katie Landreth, owner and managing director of the Natural Childcare Company, said, 'Around the time that I opened the nursery, lots of things went wrong. I took over an existing business where I had been the manager, but I had to move the nursery premises over the space of one weekend. The weekend following the opening of the nursery, my husband was rushed to hospital with cancer and it really was not a good time.
'However, we got through it and were graded outstanding by Ofsted in our first inspection. Then nine months later Ofsted turned up again to do another inspection, which we had not been expecting for a few years! But we were graded outstanding for a second time.
'After this, someone from the Federation of Small Businesses contacted me to ask if we had considered entering the awards, so we entered, and then I received a letter saying we had been shortlisted as one of the three finalists.
'We have done exceptionally well since opening two years ago, and to receive this award as well is phenomenal! We have a fantastic staff team who are incredibly dedicated and absolutely love working with the children in our care and their families.'
Ms Landreth has also launched a holiday club and a before- and after-school club, which opened in September. The Natural Childcare Company offers holistic childcare and Ms Landreth hopes to expand the setting to offer a range of services such as antenatal classes, allergy testing and training for parents in subjects such as paediatric first aid.
