The company has huge debts, a number of unhappy nursery staff have been speaking out about worrying conditions at some settings, and one Leapfrog nursery has suffered a suspected outbreak of salmonella (see page 4).
The company is seeking to reassure the City that its financial situation will improve with an action plan to tackle the nursery division's under-performance. The City is happy so long as the figures add up, but the harder and much more important task is to tackle the demoralised part of the workforce and the conditions that they say they are coping with, including cuts in the cleaning contracts, poor food and delays in receiving supplies.
The staff who have contacted us have stressed that they put on a cheerful face at work and give children the best care they can, but they worry about what is happening to the quality of provision and feel they have no voice.
Children have no voice either. Trading figures mean nothing to them, but their experience spending long hours in a nursery - a major part of their life - is vitally important. However tough a time Nord Anglia is having as a corporate entity, it must sort out the day-to-day problems in some of its nurseries immediately.
