Once upon a time, I dreamed of opening a nursery school in Sprowston, the place where I’ve lived most of my life. My vision was to create a magical place for children to learn, develop and flourish. A place where I’d love to send my own children.

Following a lengthy search, that dream became a reality in September 2007 when not one, but two, Once upon a time nursery schools opened their doors. Since then, we’ve opened two other day care nursery schools nearby and we’ve built a fantastic reputation with the help of our wonderful team. Before this, I spent over 10 years managing Sprowston Nursery Playgroup.

My love of children’s books is what inspired the name ‘Once upon a time’. Story telling is so important in children’s early years. It teaches a wide range of vocabulary, feeds their curiosity and imagination and sets them up to have a love of reading for the rest of their lives.

At the same time as growing the new business, I achieved a BA (Hons) degree in Early Childhood Studies. My role is Director of Care and Education for all four of our nursery schools. This involves working closely with our Nursery Managers to make sure that our high standards and best practice is delivered consistently.

Outside of work, I enjoy long walks on the beach with John and our Border Collie, Kipp, gardening and shopping! And 2020 got off to a wonderful start for John and I when our daughter gave birth to our first grandchild.

As Director of Finance and Marketing, I manage most of the business aspects for Once upon a time. From 2007 to 2013, I did this while working full time in Managing Director roles at TPF Group (a large print and facilities management company) and Norvic Ambulance Services. Prior to this I spent 10 incredible years at Virgin Money in senior marketing roles.

Despite the responsibility and challenges, there’s something so incredibly rewarding running your own business. We strive to provide a great place to work for our hard-working team, and we keep investing in fantastic resources for the children to enjoy. And I’m amazed at the wonderful feedback we receive from parents that has helped build our reputation.
I also manage our corporate governance to ensure we run our business in line with all legal and regulatory requirements. The Directors and four other senior managers meet every school term and we review a range of important topics from ‘Safeguarding’ to ‘Views of Parents’, from ‘Health & Safety’ to ‘Staff Training’. We never stop learning and are always looking to improve not just what we do, but how we do it.

I enjoy playing golf, keeping fit and supporting the Canaries.

Becoming a parent at the beginning of 2020, I have a new perspective on what it’s like to put your trust in a nursery to care for your little one. My little boy, Noah, has been at Once upon a time since he was nine months old. I see first hand just how much he benefits from being there.

I’m really proud of what my parents have created at Once upon a time, and I didn’t think twice when they invited me to join the business as Director of HR and Training. My background is 10 years in retail management at both regional and national level. I’ve worked with brilliant brands such as M&S and Majestic Wine. Although I loved my creative roles within retail, putting everything I've learned along the way into our family business is far more rewarding.

I completed my Open University BSc (Hons) degree in 2018, a mixture of Psychology and Early Years studies. This, along with some time working in the baby room at our Constitution Hill nursery, has given me valuable experience of day-to-day nursery life and child development.

Noah keeps me busy when we're both not at nursery. We're looking forward to holidays, adventures and spending time with family, to make up for his first year being spent in a global pandemic!