Features

Nursery Chains 2023: Overview – balancing act

Sky-rocketing energy prices, increasing staff costs and an ongoing recruitment crisis mean that early years groups have had no respite in the wake of the pandemic. Annette Rawstrone speaks to some chains about these challenges and their strategies
LEYF believes that demand for quality childcare will continue to increase
LEYF believes that demand for quality childcare will continue to increase

Three years ago, the childcare sector was facing up to the realities of dealing with a global pandemic. The next challenge for nursery groups should have been a focus on getting back to normal, but bigger storms are now threatening an already struggling sector.

‘As things eased [following the pandemic], we thought we could take a breather, but actually we can’t,’ says Samantha Creme, director of strategy and business development at the London Early Years Foundation (LEYF), which manages 41 settings across the capital. ‘It’s getting worse because the level of investment in the sector after the furlough grant stopped has fallen off a cliff.’

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