Celebrating a moment of pride! 🌟 We’re delighted to share that Kids Planet has been named number 1 in the UK’s Best Workplaces for Development™ 2026 - for the second year running, by Great Place To Work UK! This recognition reflects our commitment to creating careers with purpose, supporting colleagues to learn, develop and grow at every stage of their journey in early years. A huge shoutout to our fantastic employees - your voices shape our outstanding company culture. This achievement belongs to us all! 🏆
Huge moment for Kids Planet!
We’re proud to share TWO fantastic award wins. Congratulations to Clare Roberts OBE, Winner of CEO of the Year (Large Group), and Matt Ritchie (M&A Director of the Year) at the Nursery Management Today Nursery Power List Awards 2026 This recognition is a testament to them both: Clare’s unique ability to combine entrepreneurial drive with a deeply values led approach, ensuring the Kids Planet family grows with purpose; and Matt’s pivotal role in driving our growth and integrations, combining strategic vision with operational excellence.
🏆 We’re delighted that Kids Planet has been named a Top 20 Rated Nursery Group 2026! Based entirely on parent reviews and feedback on daynurseries.co.uk, this recognition is particularly meaningful in a sector with many large, well‑known nursery groups nationwide. We’re also delighted to celebrate the individual Kids Planet nurseries recognised as Top 20 Nurseries 2026. Huge congratulations to: Kids Planet Bluebell Lodge Kids Planet Bulwell Kids Planet Cheadle Stoke Kids Planet Conwy Kids Planet Poulton Kids Planet Sandbach Montessori Kids Planet Southridge Kids Planet Wallasey Kids Planet Waverton House Kids Planet Westerhope Kids Planet Widnes Kids Planet Willerby Kids Planet Wyke These awards shine a light on the excellent work happening day in, day out in our nurseries, supported by strong teamwork across the wider Kids Planet group. A heartfelt thank you to our incredible teams and families — this recognition truly belongs to everyone who makes Kids Planet what it is.
We’re absolutely delighted to announce the appointment of Jude Scott as our new Operations Director! Jude has been part of the Kids Planet story almost from the very beginning. She was the Nursery Manager of one of the first two nurseries acquired in September 2008, right at the start of Kids Planet, and has since grown with the business through Area Manager and Childcare Director roles. Her journey reflects not only her dedication, passion, and commitment to excellence, but also our strong belief in developing and promoting talent from within. Jude truly lives and breathes our CARE values. She brings deep operational knowledge, strong judgement, and a genuine care for our people and children. With an excellent understanding of nursery life, the importance of standards and consistency, and the balance between quality provision and commercial performance, Jude has played a key role in shaping the operational foundations we stand on today. Lucy Kaczmarska said: “We are incredibly proud to see Jude progress into this position, having played such a key role in our growth, and we’re excited to have her supporting us as we continue on our journey. Congratulations, Jude - very well deserved.” As Operations Director, Jude will now lead our Childcare Directors and continue to strengthen how we operate across the group, building strong communities, creating safe and supportive environments, and striving for excellence in everything we do. Exciting times ahead for Kids Planet. 👏
A huge congratulations to Lindsey Wallwork-Jones on her well‑deserved appointment to our exciting new role of Head of Early Years. Lindsey has been part of the Kids Planet family for many years and it’s been fantastic to see her grow with the company. Her journey from Quality Manager, to Senior Early Years Advisor, reflects not only her dedication to the sector, but also our commitment to developing talent from within. Lindsey brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the role, having previously worked as an Ofsted Inspector, inspecting many of our earliest settings. She has also managed and directed a multi‑functional Children’s Centre and ran successful early years settings in Warrington. Lucy Kaczmarska said: “Her passion for early years and commitment to quality truly stand out, and she is an incredible asset to our teams. I’m really looking forward to seeing the impact Lindsey will make as we continue to strengthen collaboration and best practice across the business.” Exciting times ahead as we continue to strengthen our collaborative working throughout our teams👏
We’re pleased to announce our new partnership with CPOMS Systems, building on Kids Planet’s longstanding commitment to safeguarding across our nursery group. With more than 290 settings across the UK, we are using CPOMS StudentSafe to support our teams in consistently logging concerns, incidents and key information within one secure system. Alongside this, CPOMS StaffSafe enables the effective recording and reporting of staff welfare information, helping us maintain high standards of governance across the group. Lucy Kaczmarska, Chief Operating Officer at Kids Planet, said the rollout of CPOMS StudentSafe and StaffSafe “builds on our strong safeguarding foundations, giving our teams access to robust, industry‑leading tools that empower them to act with total confidence.” “With this investment we are keeping our focus exactly where it should be: on the safety and happiness of the children in our care.”
We’re proud to reveal Alder Hey Children's Charity as Kids Planet’s official charity partner, continuing an established relationship and our ongoing support for the incredible work they do! As part of this partnership, we’re committed to supporting the incredible work Alder Hey does for children and families, and we’ll be matching fundraising efforts from our teams to help maximise the impact. Alder Hey Children’s Charity supports Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, helping fund life‑saving equipment, pioneering research, and projects that improve care and experiences for children when they need it most. We can’t wait to see our teams come together across our communities, showing creativity, compassion and commitment as they fundraise and raise awareness for such a meaningful cause.
Nothing matters more than a child feeling safe, and every day, our team strives for excellence, working with care, compassion and commitment to ensure children are protected, supported and truly valued. Through continuous training and awareness, we create environments where every child can grow with confidence, happiness and security. We were honoured to share this message on Sky News, discussing how we safeguard children, how our staff are trained to recognise risks and act with care, and why this work is so vital. A huge thank‑you to our COO Lucy Kaczmarska, and the incredible Prestwich team and the wonderful families there for welcoming the crew and supporting this important conversation. 💛 hashtag#Safeguarding hashtag#Childcare hashtag#Excellence hashtag#Education hashtag#EarlyYears
Kids Planet is now the UK’s second largest nursery group! 💛 That’s 271 nurseries and over 23,000 places across England and Wales - which ultimately means more families supported, more children nurtured, and more opportunities for our teams to grow their careers in early years. Huge credit to our colleagues across the business - the care, commitment and quality you bring every day is what makes this possible. We’re so proud of how far we've come… and so excited for what’s next 🚀
