News Article

Papillon set to grow following move to Maxim Office Park

31/03/2010

When Lanarkshire women Fiona Leggat and Joyce McAdam launched Papillon Nursery in Motherwell back in 2006, by their own admission, neither could have imagined how far they would come in just four short years.

Opening at Newhouse Industrial Estate with just four children in August that year, Papillon quickly grew to its full capacity of 62 kids, achieving its initial three year business plan projection by the end of year one.

Fast forward to 2010 and the business is now one of Scotland’s largest private nurseries following its recent relocation to a new, purpose built, modern facility at Scotland’s leading business location, Maxim Office Park in Lanarkshire.

The new, larger base means Papillon can now cater for up to 130 children and in the process, double its current staff levels from 20 to 40. Yet despite such impressive entrepreneurial credentials, Fiona is in no doubt as to the real secret behind Papillon’s continued success.  

“When Joyce and I started out, our main concern certainly wasn’t to become some hugely successful business,’’ she says, “it was more about achieving our vision of how childcare should be delivered, which, for us is all about offering a consistent quality of service in everything we do. Any success we’ve subsequently had as a business has been strongly built on sticking wholeheartedly to that approach.’’ 

The pair first met when Fiona was a child-care lecturer at Coatbridge College and Joyce was one of her students. Before long, their shared belief and passion about how childcare should be delivered blossomed into their vision for Papillon. Next came the decision to strike out on their own and with a business plan drafted and finance secured, Papillon was born and Fiona and Joyce haven’t looked back since.  

Another key milestone for the business came in 2008 when Papillon was chosen as a North Lanarkshire Council partner nursery, meaning it could now provide local authority funded places for up to 34 children. And the accolades have kept coming with the award last year of a prestigious six-star grading from main industry body, the Care Commission for Scotland. Papillon being one of only several nurseries across Scotland to receive such recognition.

“Being selected as a council partner nursery and receiving our six-star grading were undoubted high points for our business,’’ says Fiona, “but more importantly they’re testament to the consistent high standards and hard work of the whole Papillon team.

“That kind of recognition is again all down to the way we operate; for example, the work we do to increase parental involvement in the nursery is hugely important, as for us, childcare is not just about `drop and pay,’ but more about giving parents a sense of being a central part of things. That’s an approach we’ve always taken through involving them in as many ways as possible and the Care Commission picked up on that.  Overall, it’s little things like that which I think often set us apart from some other private nursery providers.’’

Another major plaudit for Papillon came recently when it was invited to team up with Coatbridge College on an initiative promoting innovation among local businesses.

As part of the college’s Innovation Voucher Scheme - which offers funding from the Scottish Funding Council to finance collaborative projects which produce innovative new products - a range of local businesses were selected to participate with Papillon the only representative from the care sector.

Under the project, Papillon will host a number of parental workshops on the themes of health and wellbeing, IT for children and the transition from nursery to primary school.

For Fiona, the workshops are a perfect extension of Papillon’s day to day approach.

“It’s very exciting that we were chosen by the college to participate in this programme, ‘’ she says, “as it shows we’re being recognised for doing the right things.

“We’ve devised these workshops to help parents become more invested in the whole nursery experience and get them more involved in everything we do.

 “Health and wellbeing is a hot topic right now as we’re seeing more and more children with asthma and other conditions and so we thought it worthwhile we explore these issues. The transition to school can also be fairly traumatic, so our third session will centre on how to make this process run as smoothly as possible.”

She went on: “People often think nursery is just a children’s playroom but we want to change that perception and highlight that children actually come to learn, which is why we’ve also organised an evening on information technology and how children can begin to understand computers even before they start school.’’

Maxim Chief Executive Karen Campbell is also delighted to have Papillon at the park and has previously describe it as precisely the type of “high-quality, innovative business’’ Maxim is looking to attract.

“Fiona and Joyce and the team quickly appreciated the advantages of relocating to the park and their business is going from strength to strength,’’ said Karen.

“Maxim is one of the most attractive places to do business in Scotland and having a nursery as respected and forward-thinking as Papillon on site is a tremendous asset.”

As for the future, despite their relatively rapid success, Fiona and Joyce intend to stick rigidly to their strategy of gradually developing the business - slowly but surely from within their new Maxim base.

“Moving to the current building at Maxim means we now have four separate play rooms and one of Scotland's largest baby wings, together with a large outdoor, secure play area,’’ says Fiona.

“It’s a very exciting time for us and there’s certainly scope for us to expand the business and to perhaps add new services such as an after school club for instance. However, we’ll do that at the right pace and in a manner which doesn’t compromise service quality or negatively impact on our children or staff. That commitment to providing a quality, trusted service will always be our main concern.’’