The early years operates within a market model, which means there are a range of business models providing a service to families. For example, the nursery sector in England is made up of large nursery chains (18 per cent), voluntary sector nurseries and pre-schools including charities, local authorities and social enterprises (11 per cent), and the rest are private or family-owned single-site or small chains of nurseries. In Scotland, 50 per cent of provision is delivered by the public sector, 21 per cent by the voluntary sector and 30 per cent by private providers. It’s a smorgasbord.
Social enterprises are a small but important part of the early years group. A childcare social enterprise blends social and commercial goals together in the pursuit of a fairer society using a pedagogy designed to deliver quality to benefit all children and families but especially those most disadvantaged.
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