Nursery owner schooled in overcoming challenges

Age: 35.

What is the business called?

The Enchanted Forest Nurseries Ltd (EFN).

What services does it offer?

EFN runs three private nurseries, in Erskine, Greenock and Thornliebank, catering daily for more than 400 pre-school children, and employing 55 staff. We are currently looking at a number of potential sites across the west of Scotland for growth during 2012.

What is the turnover? £1.2 million.

When was it formed? EFN was launched in 2006, with the opening of EFN in Erskine.

What were you doing before you took the plunge? I qualified as a primary school teacher in 1998, working with infant department children, before becoming education manager at Coca-Cola, where I managed East Kilbride Education Centre and associated educational-based programmes for primary and secondary school pupils. Following this secondment, I was an active schools manager for Inverclyde Council. This post involved managing a team of employees whose task was to increase levels of physical activity/healthy active lifestyles in children and young people, working in collaboration with all schools across Inverclyde. 

Why did you take the plunge?

I have always wanted to control my own destiny and the only way to do that truly is to run your own business. I used to talk about opening my own nursery so much that my husband Bernie eventually almost pushed me into it. His philosophy is "life's too short" and he said to just get on and do it.

What was your biggest break?

Some council policy states that nurseries should be in built-up areas so actually finding premises for the first nursery, after an eight-month struggle, was key. At the time, there was no private nursery in Renfrew, and so there clearly was a need. If I was a less determined person, that first nursery would never have happened.

During our initial and lengthy search for premises, we were unaware of the council policy on locations for nurseries. The premises we found had been disused for a number of years and we felt it was perfect; I immediately visualised it as a nursery.

In submitting our application to the council for change of use they responded by rejecting the change of use, stating that it contravened their policy that new nurseries should be situated in a built-up area; customers would have to drive miles out of Erskine to use the nursery; the nursery would be in a green belt area and they were not happy about this.

At this stage, although disappointed we had to persist in our application as we knew there was a huge gap for a private nursery and that the location offered what we felt was an excellent location close to the Erskine Bridge/M8 for commuters.

We felt the claim that the site was miles out of Erskine was unfounded. I contacted the local powers that be who could help influence the decisions. I lobbied MSPs, councillors and community councillors. We also had to persuade the area's large employers, HP and Becogent, to allow us to survey their staff and prove there was a requirement for the nursery we were planning.

One of our greatest supporters was the operations director of Erskine Hospital, who was very well connected and vocal in his support of what we were doing. Eventually, we went back to the local authority with a proven case as to why there was a requirement for the nursery.

What was your worst moment? In 2010, two weeks before the third nursery was scheduled to open, with 70 children set to attend from day one and 10 staff already employed, the bank we used decided to withdraw an offer of funding. This was despite the fact that by this stage, we had an excellent track record, were borrowing only a five-figure sum (£38,000) and most importantly, we were match funding the borrowings. In the end, we simply funded the entire venture ourselves - and changed banks.

What do you enjoy about running the business? Nothing beats being your own boss, doing something that you are passionate about. Knowing that we are providing what we believe is the best environment possible for children is so fulfilling. We recently won an Excellence in Customer Services Award at the Renfrewshire Chamber of Commerce awards – the win was based on, among other things, feedback from the parents at our nurseries.

Are there good and bad sides to working together?

Because we are married, we were already aware of each other's strengths and weaknesses, as business partners, which is ideal. For example, Bernie is very direct whereas I might procrastinate. However, I'm definitely more of a people person.

One of the reasons we are married is because we share the same values and this carries through to our business and we simply want be the best that we can be, both personally and in business. But the dynamic of our relationship changes at work. When I'm at home, I might be more inclined to back down, however, in the office, if there is something I am truly passionate about, I will argue my case and I won't give in.

Disagreements that happen at work can carry on once we're home, and it is 24/7 ... but some of our best ideas have come about on holiday, or when we're out.

What do you least enjoy?

Nothing much to be honest, having to deal with the financial due diligence is a chore. However, this is one of Bernie's skills, and that, together with the employment of a trustworthy and reliable accountant, means that I don't need to worry about it too much now.

What are your ambitions for the firm? Growth ... our aim is to have at least one EFN in each local authority region in Scotland.

What are your top priorities?

To be acknowledged as the leaders in childcare in Scotland; to continually improve the level of service we provide; to continue to grow, creating job opportunities; to always develop our staff.

What could the Scottish/Westminster Governments do that would most help? As stated, we have experienced difficulties in the past with banks when it comes to funding requirements, so the Government doing more in this regard to help SMEs would be useful. Also the Government could reassess the amount of red tape that applies across so many industries. This can really hinder entrepreneurship, which in the current economic climate is desperately needed.

How do you relax? We both enjoy spending time with family and friends, eating out, exotic holidays (when possible) and watching football.