Snapdragons Nurseries celebrated their 25th anniversary this year with a weekend festival on the outskirts of Bath. The festival was laid on as a huge ‘thank you’ for the whole staff team, who enjoyed a laid-back weekend of food, drink, friends, games and entertainment at Field Good Bar.
Snapdragons Nurseries was started in 1998 by Rosemary and Paul Collard (pictured above) from their farmhouse home in Atworth, Wiltshire, and, 25 years later, they are still very much involved in the business. The success of the Atworth nursery inspired them to expand and offer their brand of education and care to more children and families.
Rosemary explained that initially she had no plan to grow the company. “When we started, I was teaching in Melksham and Paul’s job with British Airways involved a lot of travel. With four young children, the logistics were daunting to say the least.
“Full daycare was relatively new and there was little provision to help working families, so the seed of an idea formed and we opened our Atworth nursery in our own home. The first two children to test it were my youngest daughter Izzy and her cousin! Some of our staff are still with us from those early days, so it really does feel like a family. The festival was a chance to show our amazing teams how much we value their work.”
Forward to 2023 and there are now ten Snapdragons nurseries from Atworth and Corsham, through Bath and Keynsham, and into Bristol, with 450 employees and close to 1,500 places for children. The Collards’ children, now adults of course, have all joined the company and have key roles in Finance, IT and Education, while the five grandchildren have all attended the nurseries. A truly family affair!
Snapdragons is an Ofsted Outstanding provider and has been recognised in the nursery sector with multiple awards. They have also established a reputation for their approach to healthy, ethical food and have held a Food For Life Gold Food Served Here Award from the Soil Association since 2012.