and children.
Set in a pint-sized version of the idealised English village, the nursery at Maggie & Rose comes complete with village green, bandstand and series of mini terrace houses (used as activity rooms). There is also an art gallery for painting, a mini-theatre and even a selection of vehicles to deliver the post or collect the rubbish.
Founder Maggie Bolger says, 'Many daycare offerings are not very inspiring.
The experience of Maggie & Rose comes from what I want to see as a mother of four, though we do have a panel of experts as well. It's not regimented and we don't overstimulate children with bright colours.
'The village is the children's space. I didn't like the idea that children stay in one room, so we keep it dynamic with smaller groups experiencing certain things during the day.
'The theatre has a tiny stage where we get the children up to read stories to each other. We also have different themes, so one week it was the post office and children wrote postcards and delivered them. It's the village community idea.'
Ms Bolger founded the company in 2007 as a Kensington club where parents could attend and take cooking, art, drama and music classes with their children during school and holiday time. It was financed, unbeknown to her husband, with an interest-free Marks & Spencer credit card with a £5,000 limit.
The nursery opened in 2013, along with the company's second club in Chiswick, and takes children from 12 months to five years old. This second branch was paid for through crowdfunding, plus a £500,000 bank loan.
The Chiswick club is licensed and open until 8pm, with a walled garden featuring a treehouse with a 'curly slide' and a vintage double decker bus.
Ms Bolger explains, 'Dads come in for breakfast on the weekends; it's a place they can bring the kids and still grab a coffee and a bacon sandwich and read the Financial Times.
'On Friday nights parents can come for a movie night and pizza from a wood fired oven. It just didn't seem to be anything that was on offer anywhere else.'
However, anyone wanting to recreate the eclat of the Maggie & Rose model without substantial investment will have trouble.
Ms Bolger says, 'We had architects to design the village. There is no element of polystyrene; some of the houses are real brick.
'We also have our own in-house design team. The food comes from our brasserie kitchen. I'm a firm believer that children should eat everything from quinoa to chorizo, and we have taken pretty much all processed sugar out now.'
Fees for the annual membership are £875, with £10 to £18 additional charge per class. The nursery day rate is £78 per day or £368 per week for two- to three-year-olds.
The company will open a nursery for children aged 18 months to three at its Kensington site in September.
