Operations and human resources director Chrissie Richards talks about her typical week at the 14-site nursery chain which she co-founded with husband Paul
Monday
The beginning of my day centres on my own family life and getting my three sons, James, 12, Thomas, 11, and five-year-old William, to school. This morning we're delayed by my mobile ringing. It's the manager of Bluewater nursery in Kent, one of Academy Childcare's 14 nurseries around the country and also our headquarters, who is ringing to inform me that Ofsted inspectors have arrived for the annual inspection. An important part of my role is that I'm always on call to give my managers support and discuss their day.
I usually spend Monday mornings catching up with paperwork and touching base with managers in person or by phone. This afternoon I have a meeting with Kent Business Link to discuss our Investors in People accreditation which is due for renewal. I also have two appraisals with nursery managers from Birmingham and Ipswich. Last on my agenda is a meeting with the Learning & Skills Council to discuss our Training and Assessment Centre before joining my children at the local swimming pool for some after-work splashing!
Tuesday
I start in Ashford with a quarterly meeting with all our managers. These meetings give us an opportunity to update everyone on company initiatives and to focus on strategic areas of the business. Today the main subjects are sales and marketing and health and safety. Changes to the Food Safety Act have to be taken on board and we end up having a lengthy discussion on food preparation and catering, which gets a few stomachs rumbling!
The afternoon is spent selecting candidates to interview for our new Dartford nursery. In the evening Paul and I travel to Chichester, leaving our boys in the capable hands of our housekeeper, Jean. The boys love her and she has become like a second mum to the family, including me.
Wednesday
It's another busy day ahead. I'm interviewing external candidates to join our new Chichester nursery team. I always select the first teams at a new nursery site myself. As well as nursery nurses I'm interviewing business development managers today.
Paul, who manages the property and financial side of the business, joins me to see how building work is progressing at the new site. It's coming along fantastically and will hold 128 children, with some of these places already pre-sold.
On our way home we call into the Bluewater office to pick up our calls. There are some things that need dealing with immediately and others that can wait until the morning. Tonight we're attending the Kent Arts and Business Awards in Folkestone, so before arriving I put my thinking hat on to see if Academy can make a contribution to this area at some point in the future. We get home at 11.30pm.
Thursday
My emphasis is on the installation of our new Coldharbour computer system today. We're being networked throughout the whole group, which means I can go online at central office and access data from my nurseries around the country - to see exactly how many children we have at each nursery, what the staffing levels are or what the costs are against budget.
While at my PC I spend an hour researching an area where a new nursery might be opening. It's important to juggle the search for new opportunities with remaining focused on matters at hand. A glance at my in-tray reminds me to review our written standards for customer service and approve our new questionnaire for parents regarding their experience at Academy. I arrive home at about 6.30pm, just in time to spend a few hours with the boys and their homework. I'm pleased to see them, as it's been a long couple of days.
Friday
Today I'm at the three Kent sites. There was a time when I would know all the children and their parents, but now we have more than 1,000 children across our nursery sites, so it is not always possible to do this. But I still like to be as hands-on as I can and I love keeping in touch with how the children are progressing. After travelling around the county I head home to a large glass of wine, some of my close friends and the anticipation of a weekend with my family.
