NMT Top 20

Last week, Matt headed down south to Barclays HQ in London for the NMT top 20 dinner and presentation.  The NMT Top 20 is a list put together by a panel of judges to recognise and reward the people and businesses who are the most influential and inspiring in the childcare sector. The list comprises of the top 10 most influential, top 5 business leaders and top 5 inspirational business development. Nurseries and individuals enter from all over the UK and the judges put together by NMT (Arun Kanwar, Linda Basten-Pitt and Michael Sottin) must pick their top 20 of the year, no easy feat when there are so many great nurseries and individuals! Amazingly, Little beehive Nursery and Matt were one of those top 20!

“I couldn’t believe it; I got a phone call when I was in the changing room at the gym from Gabi at NMT to tell me! At first, I thought it was a joke and really wasn’t sure what she was talking about, it was actually the first time I had heard of the category, so it took me a little time to process!”

Matt found out that Sandra (Director) had put him and the nurseries forward for his work in implementing technology into the nurseries over the past three years.

“I read about the awards about a month prior and when I discovered the TOP 5 business development category, I thought it suited Matt and the nurseries perfectly”, Sandra continued “I sent in my entry, and honestly, I forgot about it! I had three missed calls from them trying to tell me that my entry was picked to be in the TOP 5 because I didn’t recognise the number…whoops”

The entry focused primarily on Matt’s aim to create a much more efficient nursery via technology.

“When I joined the company, I realised one of the main barriers for parents and the LBH team was the paperwork and not making the most of some great systems out there, I set out to change this so that the team have more time with the children and the parents don’t have to worry about anything! Moreover, this award goes to show that it's working!”

Matt was invited down to the Barclays HQ in London for a meal with the other members of the TOP 20 as well as sponsors and industry leaders on Thursday the 20th of June.

Although they pick the Top 20, the judges also pick their overall winner in each category who have gone above and beyond in their category, unfortunately, this year, that was not us! Congratulations to all the winners and especially the Old Station Nursery for taking home 1st in the business development category.

“The dinner was fantastic, and it was a fantastic opportunity to meet others in the industry and an extreme privilege to be in a room with so many fantastic nurseries and individuals, sadly we didn’t get the top prize, but just being recognised for the work we as a nursery have carried out in the past few years is amazing.

I also want to say a huge thank you to all the Little Beehive team, although I was lucky enough to be invited down, it doesn't matter if we implement the best technology and procedures in the industry, if we also don’t have the best team, none of it matters…. drinks are on me!”