Every year, we sit down with our CEO, Susan to reflect on the year and share our plans for the New Year. Here’s her milestones, review and plans for 2025.
“2024 has been a year filled with as many surprises as challenges – yet our team remain optimistic and resilient as we navigate more change and uncertainty for our sector. That being said, looking back over the year we have plenty to smile about. Some milestones in 2024 have included:
- Opening our new 21-place Baby Unit at Cherubs Kimberley, in March.
- Celebrating the long-service of our people with Amanda (Central Support Team) marking 25-years with Cherubs Nurseries.
- Opening our new 72-place nursery, Cherubs Ilkeston (Derbyshire) in August – our second nursery in the county.
- Moving to an “all-inclusive” service and starting our partnership with eco-friendly supplier, Kit & Kin.
- Acknowledging more long-service of our people in October with Maria (Cherubs Executive House) marking 25-years with Cherubs Nurseries.
As with most years, we celebrate the achievements of our nurseries whether that be Ofsted inspections or industry awards and accreditations. In April, Cherubs Longdale maintained their “good” Ofsted grading. Inspector Hayley Ruane reported “Children are supported to feel secure in the nursery when they arrive. For instance, staff get down to their level and talk to them about their experiences at home” and “Children with SEND are supported well. Additional funding is used to provide one-to-one support from staff to implement children’s individual targets and helps them to develop.” This year, Cherubs Longdale was also recognised as a Top 20 Recommended Nurseries in the East Midlands – by DayNurseries.co.uk. As a group, we continue to maintain over 1,000 verified review with a group average score of 9.5/10.
Our nurseries have continued to make the communities we serve better places to live, work and grow up in. From community clean ups to strengthening partnerships with our local residential homes. We have been incredibly proud to partner with Children with Cancer UK, raising over £12,000 for this wonderful cause. Thank you to our parents and staff who nominated charities and causes in our recent parent and staff satisfaction surveys, too. We are working through all nominations and will be announcing our new partner in January.
In November, we held our annual Parent Satisfaction Survey. Whilst the results and summaries will be released in due course, I am proud to share some brief statistics from the survey:
- 95% trust the Early Years Educators with their children’s safety and wellbeing (on-par with 2023)
- 95% say their child’s nursery has good safety and security measures in place (up 4% from 2023)
- 95% say the meals and snacks are varied, balanced and nutritious (up 4% from 2023)
- 91% say their children’s nursery is well-maintained (up 4% from 2023)
- 90% say their children enjoy the meals and snacks at nursery (up 3% from 2023)
Looking forward to 2025, we will continue to invest in and work towards offering an even better service for both the children we care for and their families. Sadly, our Government continues to encourage children into School from an even younger age. We are determined to continue to showcase the benefits of keeping children in early years care and education even longer. Our focus always remains on offering the most value for money.
We have some exciting plans and ambitious targets including:
- The launch of a new early years system for our nurseries and parents.
- A year dedicated to the training and development of our people – there can be no compromise on the quality of the care and education we offer.
- A refreshed look and feel to Cherubs Nurseries with our biggest brand transformation to date!
- Upgrades and refurbishments at Cherubs Worksop and Cherubs Wynndale – as part of our 5-year refurbishment plan.
- Further growth and expansion (if you have any suggestions on where we should pop up next, please let us know here).
- Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 60 in our 2025 Parent Satisfaction Survey.
As we approach 2025 and 32-years of Cherubs Nurseries, I would like to take this opportunity to extend thanks and appreciation to our parent community. We acknowledge the significant investment early years care and education demands but I hope we continue to exceed your expectations and as a result, give your children the best start in life. Your support is never taken for granted or underestimated.
It goes without saying that none of this would be possible without our incredible team of people. From those smiley faces you see everyday in our nurseries to those who work tirelessly behind the scenes. Thank you for everything you do to make Cherubs Nurseries the business it is today.
As we head into the New Year, I would like to wish everyone all the best for the year ahead, Let’s make 2025 the best one yet!”
Best wishes, Susan Mills – Founder and CEO
