Hear the experts at the Nursery World Show business seminar

Concerned about what 2011 will bring for your nursery business? Then join us at our first business seminar, to be held at the Nursery World Show on 11 February.

The morning programme aims to help providers ride the harsher economic conditions next year as Government cuts begin to bite and unemployment figures edge upwards once again.

Our first speaker will be Courteney Donaldson (pictured), director of specialist property agent and adviser Christie + Co. Well-known within the early years sector, she will be looking at sector trends and measures that some nurseries are now taking in response to the 2010 budget and Comprehensive Spending Review.

'The presentation will touch on changing trends in occupancy management, fee levels, property values and demand in the marketplace from prospective purchasers, along with a synopsis and case studies of banking activity in the nursery sector during the past 12 months,' she says.

Presenting the next session will be Jacqui Smith and Katie Clipston (pictured), both regional development managers for the National Day Nurseries Association. Their aim is two-fold: to feed back on how nurseries around the country are adapting to the extended free entitlement and to offer strategies on how you can organise your business to make sure the 15 hours of 'free' provision doesn't leave you out of pocket.

Ms Smith says, 'NDNA fully supports the principle of free nursery education and the benefits it brings to children and families. However, it is vital that nurseries are able to make it sustainable in practice. We will be sharing with providers ways in which they can think differently about free nursery education to make sure that it is more sustainable. This session will look at different approaches to pricing and costing, working with your local authority as well as sharing examples of how free nursery education has worked well in practice for settings.'

We've programmed in a mid-morning coffee break to give you the chance to network - ask the experts and share ideas and experiences with other providers.

After the break, Ian Brodie will explain how you can improve your marketing. A squeeze on families' budgets and rising unemployment next year may well increase competition between providers, so making sure that parents know all about you and the quality of your provision could be crucial.

Mr Brodie is a marketing and business development consultant, with experience of working across a variety of industries, and his aim is to help you 'get more clients in less time, even if you hate marketing and selling'.

Alongside the business seminar we will, as usual, be running a programme of 'good practice' seminars covering a wide variety of subjects, from safeguarding and child behaviour to sensory play for under-threes and running a nursery kitchen.

The business seminar costs £65, good practice seminars £15. For more details, to register for the show or to sign up for the seminars, visit www.nurseryworldshow.com. We look forward to seeing you there.