Nurseries- Busy Bees vs Bright Horizons

As someone who worked in a busy bees I’d absolutely not send my child there, at least not the ones near me. But bright horizons staff do a lot of background checks etc (more than other nurseries from what I know anyway) and they are quite good in all fairness

Say you want to do full time. You can change the days you need 2 months before you need the change to happen.

I had my little boy signed up for both initially but went for BH. Annoyingly, BH don't offer half days, but otherwise they seem really organised and the kids seemed much calmer in my local nursery. Alsooo I used to work at a nursery that was terribly run and most of my ex colleagues now work in BH nurseries across London and say how much better they are to work for and that they're quite strict with protocols etc.

My baby is a velcro baby with real separation anxiety atm but he's settled within the week!

Busy Bees seemed ok just gave me a bit of a chaotic vibe and manager was a bit rude (but ofc this is just my local one so another one might be totally better). Also worth considering i think they offer slightly cheaper sessions (i think about £30 cheaper a month for me if I'd have gone with BB)

Took my daughter out of our local busy bees. Filthy, old broken toys, poor communication and went against my wishes to keep her in baby room as she wasn't yet walking. Kept being moved to the older room where kids were walking round with shoes on as she was crawling around. She would come home with dirty hands and knees. Saw a lot of phone use as well from staff and parents in the rooms. Where she is now, they have a strict no phone policy and no shoes in baby areas. Avoid!
I did write to head office with my issues and never heard back.

They're both chains in the back end so some things will be shared but each nursery is also going to be very different based on who is running it, the staff, etc.

Our kids have gone to a Busy Bees and it's been lovely! So I think you need to base it much more on the individual nursery than the group who owns them.

Open your case now with work for your flexible arrangement, the earlier you know the better! (But it shouldn't get denied with all the changes the other year)

Personal preference, but go for a none corporate/chain nursery, you'll probably find they are cheaper, offer more flexibility and feel more like a family!

Both of my boys have gone to Bright Horizons. It’s fantastic. The staff, the support, the curriculum. I’m so glad we chose them

They are obviously both chain nurseries but every BB or BH nursery isn't going to be the same. You will hear good and bad about each! Someone further up is saying that BH have excellent background checks but it was recently in the news that a BH nursery in north London had an employee with them for years who was filming and SAing the children in the nursery, he literally filmed them on his nursery iPad in the toilets! That doesn't mean all BH are bad but you definitely also can't say they are all good!
Go and look around each individual nursery you are interested in

She had just turned 1, could pull herself to standing and was starting to walk with a walker but not at all competent walking.
It was 2yrs ago now and I would like to think it had improved but I had a friend start there only the begining of this year and she took him out after a week for similar issues.
This was busy bees in Heatherton, Derby.
Of course not all branches are going to be bad, but because of these experiences it makes you question higher management and why after 2 years similar concerns remain!

We didnt, to be honest I didn't ask. You could always ask that question when you're enquiring though

I’d be keen to hear of any Bright Horizons feedback if anyone had any, especially hearing the case recently. Specifically looking at Bright Horizons in Hatch End vs Blue Butterfly in Stanmore and Pinner 🙏🏽

Feels like a big decision when the tiny ones will spend so much time there

I don’t like either as chains - but I know every branch is different as it depends on the staff and management . I just haven’t always heard the best stories from friends who have worked for these companies . I’m an early years practitioner myself and have been so fussy picking a nursery. Have a show around tour and go with your gut . If you like it defo get your name down. The nursery we chose hadn’t got a place until October and I enquired autumn last year. Just for the tour click any days as you can always change this, I’d also email your work about a flexible working arrangement request asap too. That’s what I did.