The Sunflower Childcare Group, an early-years education provider based in Greater Manchester, has seen its admissions grow by 25% and its 2026 waiting list expand following the development of its leadership team and business strategy through the Small Business Charter’s Help to Grow: Management Course.

Founded in 2014 by Elaine Sagar, with operations director Dawn Gibbons joining soon after, Sunflower operates two nurseries in Stalybridge and Hyde, offering high-quality childcare to families across Tameside. With over 250 children across both sites, the group specialises in supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Despite the business enjoying steady growth, Elaine was confident there was further opportunity for expansion. Keen to develop Dawn’s business skills to help Sunflower realise its potential, and to enable the founder to step back from the day-to-day management, she encouraged Dawn to enrol on the 12-week Help to Grow: Management Course, delivered by Manchester Metropolitan University Business School.

The course provided Dawn with valuable insights into developing a sustainable business model, enabling her to create and lead on a strategy tailored to Sunflower’s specific needs. This has resulted in significant growth and a clearer direction for future expansion.

Boosted by new confidence from the course, Dawn began work on an ambitious project to maximise capacity at the Hyde nursery. Instead of accepting she had to work with what she had, she renovated every room, reconfiguring the facility in a six-month project that was completed while continuing to deliver daycare to over 100 children. Dawn also added a forest school, resulting in a great new space for the children and upskilling opportunities for several of the staff to become specialised leaders. 

Although care had always been the company’s top priority, Dawn was also able to use what she learned to identify areas for improvement in the Sunflower’s strategy. She started by revisiting the set of core values that guided Sunflower’s operations. Drawing on lessons about leadership and team engagement, Dawn held workshops with staff and parents, resulting in the five core values that are now integrated into every aspect of the business. She then set about refreshing the brand and marketing messages to incorporate the updated mission, vision and values and the new parent promise.

Dawn Gibbons, operations director, Sunflower Childcare Group, said: “The Help to Grow Management Course taught me how to shift from working in the business to truly working on it. I realised I didn’t need to set aside my childcare experience to become more business-focused; instead, I could combine both perspectives to strengthen my role. This new confidence has had a positive ripple effect across the whole business.

“The increased confidence I gained from the course has permeated every part of our work. Beyond succession planning and solidifying our core values, we’ve also used the course’s marketing insights to communicate these values externally, which has helped us attract more families. We’re now moving forward with greater confidence, knowing we’ve built strong foundations for future growth.”

For Elaine, the course has delivered everything she hoped. She said: “Sunflower Group is run like a family business. When I decided I wanted to take a step back from some of the operational detail, it was really important to me that I upskilled the management team so that I could invest my time in other projects without worrying what was happening. In Dawn I’ve now got somebody running my company who thinks like a business owner, providing the best care possible for the children while ensuring Sunflower is performing well enough to invest in our people and the nursery.”

Flora Hamilton, executive director, Small Business Charter, added: “In Sunflower, Elaine and Dawn have built a truly outstanding small business. It provides brilliant care to its children and invests in its people while performing well commercially. They demonstrate the best of the UK’s early years sector and the crucial service it provides to working families up and down the country.

“Sunflower is just one example of how the Small Business Charter and our network of accredited business schools are using their expertise to provide real world support to leaders, empowering them to grow their companies and in turn boost the UK economy.”

Business leaders can find out more about the Help to Grow: Management Course and sign up for the course in their area by visiting: www.smallbusinesscharter.org/help-to-grow-management.