The manager of a Great Harwood nursery is looking to continue her mother’s legacy after taking over the running of the business.
Glenis Haworth ran The Elms Private Day Nursery for 40 years, starting when her daughter Kathy was 10.
With Glenis, who remains as the nursery’s registered person, now in her 80s, Kathy has taken over the day-to-day running of the nursery and wants to maintain its success.
She said: “The business has been in the family for 40 years since my mum started it.
“I now do all the wages, the financial side, sorting the food for the kids, everything. There were some jobs I didn’t even realise she had let go.
“She’s had thousands of children come through the nursery. She had Dr Grayson’s children, who were in Great Harwood. She had Dr Hancock’s children from Rishton.
“She’s had a really diverse amount of children through the years. It’s a family-run nursery. She never did it for big money.”
READ MORE: Elms Private Day Nursery, Great Harwood rated good by Ofsted
The nursery could soon be entering an exciting period too, with potential expansion on the cards, but Kathy insists the main focus will always be on the children.
She said: “We have a five-year plan. We’ll get better and better.
“We’re going to have to look at whether we need to extend the nursery and we’ll just move with the times like we always have done, but still keep it as a family business.
“The priority here has always been the children being happy.”
The Elms recently received a good rating from Ofsted, having been given inadequate in October.
The negatives that were highlighted by Ofsted were quickly acted upon though and Kathy said the children have always been happy attended the nursery.
“Even though we got inadequate and it was hard to take, when you come here you always see that the children are very happy,” she said.
“They even wake up on a weekend and ask to come. We do lots of things with them every day. It’s more than a nursery.”
The Elms is on Lowerfold Road in Great Harwood and cares for up to 34 children.
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