Interview - Maggie Bolger

You’ve just signed a £20m deal to launch more family clubs in China…

We already have a beautiful Beach Club in Hong Kong which opened in 2015, and 2018 will see us expanding into mainland China. The deal is to launch 10 clubs in China alone over the next five years. It’s been a long process to get here and we’re super-excited to be bringing a touch of quintessential Britishness to China. Our first site in Hangzhou has been allocated space for a nursery and we’ll be launching the site with our classes centred around our Early Years Development programme. This is based around our existing classes and our Maggie & Rose Experiences, which we’ll use as further development research into the positioning of our Maggie & Rose Method within the Chinese daycare industry.

What interested you about operating your business in China?

The Chinese are looking at new and unique brands that challenge traditional business models and bring new approaches to early years education. It feels like the perfect time to be launching there. The Chinese are really family orientated, which means that our partners understood our brand perfectly and are keen to keep the authenticity of Maggie & Rose alive, which is very important to us as we continue to develop our learning-through-play method.

Are there any plans for further expansion in the UK?

We’re launching in Islington later this year and looking at further sites in the UK, including Manchester. By the end of this year we should have four new clubs in four different cities (both national and international).

What else does Maggie & Rose offer?

Both our Kensington and Chiswick clubs also offer nursery alongside our classes, school holiday camps and food and beverage. We’re also merging our Maggie & Rose Method to meet the criteria of internationally accredited standards through our accredited CACHE qualification, which strengthens our core values, across the business – and we are looking at ways we can bring childcare to China in the near future. Our expansion to China will see us offer an array of new services that will truly bring a new element of family lifestyle to the brand.

What is the long-term plan?

Continuing to build a truly global Maggie & Rose – we’re looking to take on the world as we believe ‘everywhere needs a Maggie & Rose!’. We want to really make a mark internationally and encourage more families to explore the Maggie & Rose method of learning through play, as well as providing a beautiful and comfortable space for families to hang out and create memories.