Mama Bear’s Day Nursery and Pre-School group has appointed Chris Marston as commercial director to help with its significant recent growth.

The group has 24 settings which span across Bristol, Somerset and Devon. Chris will support owner Tony Driffield to oversee the business and drive growth.

Prior to joining Mama Bear’s Day Nursery, Chris had a career spent in sales and marketing, including eight years’ experience in the education sector leading The Consortium Early Years, an education supply business.

Commenting, Chris said:

‘I’m excited to be joining Mama Bear’s and sitting on the other side of the fence within a renowned private day nursery group. My role as commercial director will involve ensuring our childcare provision is well-resourced and our teams are engaged whilst helping to optimise our occupancy within the communities we serve.

‘We find ourselves in a society that is rapidly changing and being challenged, particularly as we learn to live with Covid-19. The need for the early years sector to evolve at pace, in order to support parents and employees, is critical. I will be working across the business to ensure we are fit to deliver a proposition that suits our customers’ needs.’

Tony Driffield, who co-owns Mama Bear’s with wife Bev, added:

‘Over the past 10 years Mama Bear’s has experienced fairly rapid growth and we have aspirations to expand further with the right opportunities and without compromising the quality of our childcare and our core family values.

‘Chris will help to finesse our policies and practices and through his experience, help us to build on our success.’

Mama Bear’s was founded in 2002 and provides childcare for children aged three-months to five years. Its flexible booking structure has made it popular with working parents.

The group now has 16 settings in Bristol, 5 in Devon and 3 in Somerset and cares for over 2000 children.