Interview - Marg Randles, Managing director, Busy Bees

The chain now owns and manages 214 settings in England, Scotland and Wales, providing around 19,600 places.

Why such a large group?

When we bought Leapfrog in 2007, they were twice as big as us and that was very successful. We look for good groups that fit well within our portfolio and cherry pick.

We have no closure plans. We're reviewing the management structure, but we're operating as business as usual. We'll be re-branding the nurseries in a staged approach. We want to be seen as one UK brand.

Is this the first time that Busy Bees will have nurseries in Scotland?

We have a kids' club for Tesco in Glasgow, but this will be the first time for nurseries. We're excited to be in Scotland with different systems.

How do you sustain quality in such a big group?

It's about the way we structure our nurseries. Myself, Simon Irons, Lynn Woodward and the divisional directors are very hands-on. We have a national support centre, which covers childcare expertise, health and safety, compliance, catering. The key is training. We set out our expectations and managers are responsible for managing the nurseries in the local community. We set standards and guidance.

Has the recession had an impact?

Parents are making slightly different decisions. Occupancy is not unduly affected by existing parents. But with new parents we're selling more places, but more part-time.

What about places for disadvantaged two-year-olds?

We're part of the pilot and our intention is to support the programme where we can.

With the two-year-old funding it does depend on how much you receive. There is a danger that providers may see it as an answer to their occupancy problems. You could end up with almost all over-twos on the free entitlement and no fee-paying children. The funding doesn't always cover the costs.

Some of our nurseries find it difficult to meet the demand for free places because of funding. We have children starting with us at six months old and we automatically reserve places for them, so we will look at this first and then work out how many two-year-old places we can offer.

We also have a community initiative scheme, where we offer two free short-term places at each nursery, with children recommended by a health visitor. This can be for all manner of reasons and is not means-tested. The scheme is worth £3.2m a year in free childcare and is about us giving something back.