Secondary school teacher Sarah Karkeek was so concerned at the prospect of the closure of the creche caring for her son that she and her husband Robin bought it.
Fifteen years later, they have expanded from that small nursery in Newquay to become an award-winning company, and one of the largest childcare providers in the south-west.
'Sarah was a senior teacher within the school management team when we heard that the creche at the school caring for our son Sam was closing,' says Mr Karkeek, who himself worked as a civil engineer.
'We carried on as we were for a year or two, and then came Ofsted with its increased levels of scrutiny. We realised that we had to expand to cope with the additional statutory requirements and documentation. So I went part time and started looking for sites. Once we got the second one, it all just developed from there.'
Sarah and Robin now together are in charge of Happy Days Nurseries, which cares for nearly 1,000 children, employs 300 staff across 17 nurseries, and runs its own training academy.
They have not, however, lost sight of their roots and pride themselves on creating a family atmosphere for both staff and children. Indeed, a number of staff from their first setting are still with the chain, now as key members of the organisation.
Good luck
Both luck and judgement play a part in the Happy Days success story. At the outset, the Karkeeks were lucky to start out in business in Cornwall where the progressive county council has no qualms about forming partnerships with private providers of childcare.
At the same time, their judgement has been crucial. They foresaw the way childcare would develop and set up settings providing learning through play on school sites, which enabled them to offer wraparound care and extended school provision years before such phrases became common parlance.
'Providing childcare services in the south-west requires flexibility to cater with seasonal and shift working patterns. Traditionally, wage levels are not particularly high in the region and this proved a limitation on further investment in the early days. However, in recent years that has changed, and the company has been able to invest into the business through retained profit,' says Mr Karkeek.
At some of their nursery sites, a number of the Happy Days parents were teachers, who did not necessarily need the nursery service during the summer holiday. Initially, this helped Happy Days release staff to develop their popular holiday and out-of-school clubs, 'Pirates', which now operate right across Cornwall.
'We use these extended services to enhance the core business. The nurseries have Pirates breakfast and after-school clubs. In the holidays the children want to be where the action is, so we transport them to local activities and exciting venues such as our fantastic Cornish beaches,' he explains.
The chain maintains high occupancy levels across its settings, the majority of which offer 50 to 80 places, with a few locations of just 24. Most of the sites are on school premises in or around dense urban areas with a few rural units.
'Because of the organic growth of the company, each site represents a true reflection of demand for the specific area, and we have found that these evolved-size nurseries underpin the business model,' says Mr Karkeek.
'There has been a tendency in the sector to build the larger nursery and then grow occupancy. We tend to start with a smaller nursery and then extend to the full suite of services in response to popular demand. We build our nurseries with the potential to expand, and ensure sustainable services to both small and large nurseries alike.
'We have built up a good working relationship with our local authorities, which has allowed us to operate from a significant number of school sites.
Quite often, we find that our sites have a really positive impact in helping to arrest a falling roll. Also head teachers welcome us on site because it allows them to provide extended school services more easily, with us taking on the before-school and after-school care, and the engagement with the parents.
'We work with children with special needs so that by the time the child joins the school their needs have been recognised, planned for and addressed. This has a significant beneficial effect for both the children and the school.'
In tandem
The chain has responded positively to the challenges posed by the introduction of children's centres. 'Where possible Happy Days has embraced these new developments and indeed has been instrumental in the delivery of five centres in Cornwall. Although this phase of development brought its own pressures, it did allow us to expand strategically and best position ourselves for future market developments,' Mr Karkeek explains.
'We are unsure as to where this will lead, but know for certain that it is better to be involved rather than sitting on the sidelines as we genuinely believe that partnership working in this area is the way forward to achieving the Every Child Matters agenda.'
Staff recruitment and retention are often cited as the greatest problems facing the childcare sector. At Happy Days, staff turnover is very low and there is no recruitment problem. 'This is probably because of the high profile of the company, career opportunities within it, and the positive recruitment, induction, and development regimes employed to attract good, qualified staff. The nursery nurse entry level for full employment at Happy Days is NVQ level 3,' Mr Karkeek says.
The company has adopted an innovative approach to its commitment to training and continuing professional development. Its response to the need to increase the professionalism of early years staff has been to develop new ways of drawing recruits into the sector via its training academy.
Happy Days won the 2006 Cornwall Business Award for Business Improvement Through People for a pioneering programme it ran with Job Centre Plus to offer access to training and work experiences for people who had not been employed for some time.
'We engaged around 150 unemployed men and women aged from 17 to 55 years old, and put them on a phased training scheme to give them a basic qualification in first aid, food hygiene, health and safety, and basic work skills.
'About 80 of them were then able to attain formal qualifications. Around 45 of them then went on to gain a City and Guilds childcare qualification, and 18 of them were offered permanent employment with Happy Days,' Mr Karkeek says.
The company is now forging links with local schools to offer training and work experience to sixth form students. 'Working in conjunction with Newquay Tretherras School, their sixth form students attend our nurseries and training venues for work experience. Our nursery teams and trainers work with the students to enable them to achieve an NVQ level 2 qualification in childcare. This provides them with options and routes into Happy Days and the childcare sector,' he explains.
'The motivation for schools and colleges particularly to engage with us in this programme is because it broadens the opportunities they can offer their students. For us, it is an opportunity to nurture talent and recruit future employees.'
Bigger links
In 2003 the chain linked up with venture capitalists who provided 'cushion money' and brought in the expertise of an experienced non-executive director, Bill Hodgins, former finance director of the Careshare nursery chain who has played a major role in shaping the company and, 'Keeps us all on our toes, which is just what we wanted.'
The chain has an ambitious expansion programme, which is taking it beyond Cornwall into Devon and into working with large employers, such as the NHS, to develop nurseries. Mr Karkeek says, 'Our target is to achieve at least 1,500 places by November 2007, along with numerous additional services.
'Our ambition for the next 10 years is very much focused on further expansion within the south-west, while retaining the quality and family atmosphere for both staff and children.'