Around 70,000 babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers across the world are expected to deliver a rousing ‘sing and sign’ chorus of Happy Birthday on Wednesday 26 April.
The children, who all attend Busy Bees nurseries, will celebrate the official 40th anniversary of the leading early years provider at the launch of its newest centre in Lichfield – the city where the brand began.
From its 1983 beginnings in Staffordshire, Busy Bees has become a worldwide success story and the company now cares for almost 70,000 children every day across 10 countries – the UK, Ireland, Italy, Canada, USA, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand.
To mark the 40 years milestone moment, a mass co-ordinated sing and Makaton sign of Happy Birthday is planned across Busy Bees centres, families and staff across the globe.
Marg Randles, co-founder of Busy Bees, said: “I can’t believe that it was 40 years ago that we started our first centre in Lichfield. It seems like yesterday.
“When we opened that first nursery, we set out to make the children the centre of everything we do. Even though we are now one of the world’s largest childcare providers, our values have remained the same, to provide children with the best start in life.
“We are delighted to be returning to Lichfield, opening a stunning, brand-new Busy Bees providing the care and educational opportunities we wanted for our own children when the first centre opened here.
“This is a truly special moment for me as my children were some of the first to become part of the Busy Bees family, and one made all the more exciting with children across the globe joining in to celebrate being one big Busy Bees community.”
Now the UK’s largest childcare provider, Busy Bees has released a short film looking back at its heritage and reaffirming its commitment to delivering high quality childcare and early years education.
The flagship new centre in Lichfield and will act as the blueprint for all future Busy Bees new builds and has been carefully designed to include environmentally friendly features such as solar panels and ‘living walls’, LED motion activated lights and low flow water taps.
The result is a market-leading, sustainable centre focused on the health and wellbeing of up to 110 children, as well as creating 40 new jobs for childcare professionals and apprentices.
Busy Bees was launched in Lichfield in 1983 by co-founders Peter and Marg Randles and Lynn and John Woodward. The two families had been unable to find a childcare option that offered everything they wanted – a place where they felt their children would be happy, secure, well cared for and treated with respect, with a real focus on education.
They were inspired to create the childcare they wanted and needed for their own families, selling their homes and purchasing the Rocklands property in Lichfield, which they converted into a safe and enriching environment filled with opportunities to learn, while they lived upstairs.
Find your nearest Busy Bees centre here.