Kids Around the Clock was launched by Rashada Bashir in 2000, operating from the ground floor of her home in Baguley, Manchester. Last October she expanded to a second site, winning the tender to provide daycare at the neighbouring Woodhouse Park Sure Start Children's Centre.
As a result, Kids Around the Clock has now extended its highly flexible service to operate between the two sites, providing wraparound care and its established overnight stays.
It now employs 22 staff, who work hard to meet parents' requirements for unconventional hours. The Woodhouse Park provision is open from 7am until 7pm, with children who need to stay after that time being taken back to the 36-place Baguley nursery.
Staff and drivers use four vehicles to ferry children between the two sites and also to do pick-ups and collections from schools and other nurseries in the area.
According to Toni Good, manager and Early Years Foundation Stage co-ordinator at Woodhouse Park, the new site allows Kids Around the Clock to combine the home environment in Baguley with the space and resources of the centre's purpose-built site.
'It is a ten-minute journey between the two and our service offers a real lifeline to many parents,' she says.
Woodhouse Park has a high demand for flexibility driven by local shift work patterns. The nursery hit maximum occupancy, with 70 funded children accessing places, during its last term.
'It is a big challenge to offer flexible hours, but it makes a huge difference to so many of the families,' Ms Good says. 'We have one single parent who has a short shift in the morning and we take her child every day from 7.30am to 10.30am. We have other parents who work as support staff in schools, who need short sessions from 10.45am to 12.45pm.'
For its 24-hour care service, it has three or four children who regularly use the service. 'It is vital for some single parents who need to work late hours. Even if they are not working right across the night it makes sense for children to have a proper bedtime routine and stay in our Baguley site overnight.'
Children enjoy a relaxed family meal prepared by Ms Bashir and shared with her family. This is followed by quiet play, stories and a bath. The children are required to bring toiletries for bath time and nightwear and comforters for sleep.
All children's routines are adhered to and a specific sleep room is made available for older children.
Kids Around the Clock has won a number of awards, including a Manchester healthy lifestyle award and a Quality Assurance award in silver.
'We have also been named a language-rich environment and on the registration inspection of our new setting we achieved good in all areas,' says Ms Good.
The business is now seeking more space to meet demand. 'We are looking into building an extension at Woodhouse Park and maybe opening another setting. There are a lot of possibilities,' she says.