Stephen Kramer, managing director Europe, told Nursery World that the scheme, which began with one employer last year, had gone live four weeks ago and was already proving a 'spectacular success'.
The Back-up Care Advantage (BUCA) programme enables parents working for companies who already have childcare links with the nursery chain to access the 'supplementary care'.
Mr Kramer said that they can do this in three ways: through Bright Horizon's own out-of-school facilities; through in-home care, 'typically provided by a nanny'; or at one of the partner nurseries which the company has linked up with and vetted for quality, if its own nurseries either are full or are not in a required location.
He said that most of the partner nurseries were smaller operators – 'chainlets' – rather than larger chains. He added, 'What you are seeing is a nice collaboration among people who are typically viewed as competitors, but in this non-traditional extension to childcare it makes perfect sense to collaborate.'
He said the childcare needs of families, once catered for adequately by playschemes and holiday clubs, had evolved dramatically. 'There has been a huge shift in the way employees work. When you are trying to respond to new flexible working you can't do that through traditional care mechanisms,' he said. 'We are trying to make the care provision as flexible as the employers are making the employees' work schedule.'
Karyn Maddison, director of Sneakers Childcare, which operates eight successful out-of-school clubs in the Midlands, confirmed that the growth of flexible working was something that providers were increasingly finding difficult to cater for. 'People who would have used us four or five days a week may not require the same sort of hours if they are taking up flexible working arrangements,' she added.
Mr Kramer said that a growing number of employers were signing up to the Bright Horizons scheme, including the Queen's bank, Coutts and Co. He said, 'It's about flexibility and geography. They have employees working different patterns in different parts of the country. They have bought into it because we have a national network to provide a service wherever one of their employees lives and works.'
A promotional leaflet from the childcare company, which operates in Europe and the United States, says, 'Highly-trained care consultants, available 24/7, will source the most appropriate solutions for the individual concerned and make all the necessary arrangements to confirm the care.'
The service may be used by parents as an emergency back-up, with bookings taken on the day that the care is needed, or it may be in response to something planned, with reservations often taken a month in advance.