Anne-Marie Graham, regional manager for Sure Start Yorkshire and the Humber, spoke at the national conference, 'Childcare: A socially responsible business', organised by the National Day Nurseries Association.
Ms Graham pointed out the sector's business credentials included quality childcare providers taking 'good care' of their staff, and the fact that parents paid for childcare. 'They want value for money and they want their needs to be met,' she said, adding, 'Successful childcare meets the needs of its clients - parents and children. You must respond to what parents say they want.'
Ms Graham described Sure Start's aims as being to 'increase the availability of childcare for all children, and work both with parents-to-be and parents and children to promote the physical, intellectual and social development of babies and young children - particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds - so they can flourish at home and at school, enabling their parents to work and contribute to the end of child poverty'.
NDNA chief executive Rosemary Murphy told the conference that both single-site nurseries and large nursery chains were socially responsible because they were social institutions 'connected to the values supporting the health and development of the community's children'. She said they 'worked through models of good practice that have wide support and go beyond minimum standards'.
If day nurseries were to realise their potential in delivering to children and families, Mrs Murphy said, they needed to assess how they fitted in the Government's vision of childcare to 2010. 'Day nurseries in the future could be developed as a unique business model, as socially-responsible businesses that break the mould, crossing the divide between social enterprise and private business.'
Neil Homer, business futures manager for Oxford, Swindon and Gloucester Co-op, told the conference that the Co-op was looking to build four Neighbourhood Nurseries this year costing 500,000 each 'in communities that haven't seen this kind of investment before'. He said that as a co-operative their attitude to profit was 'how we make it and what we do with it'.
Mr Homer added that parents using a Co-op nursery would qualify for a two per cent dividend a year, saving them between 150 and 200 for a 1 joining membership.
