A childcare voucher scheme attracts record interest

Wednesday, February 5, 2003

A childcare voucher scheme by Busy Bees, the UK's third largest nursery chain, has attracted record interest from employers. In the past six months the Skipton Building Society, the supermarket chain Asda and the London borough of Newham have all introduced Busy Bees childcare vouchers for their staff, while the nursery group is also the largest supplier of childcare vouchers to NHS Trusts. John Woodward, managing director of Busy Bees, said, 'It appears that companies are now waking up to the potential that vouchers offer, both for employees to make their childcare more affordable and for employers to improve staff recruitment and retention.' He said he expected that the Government's changes to the Working Families Tax Credit in April would lead to more interest.