1 You get where you are in business because of other people. Why not put the business back in the hands of the people who helped build it?

Mike Thompson established Child Base Nurseries in 1989, and the company now operates (in early 2010)
38 nurseries in the South of England. Being a network helps staff development, as the nursery nurses can move up a career change – the company’s operations director began as a nursery worker. The company is privately owned by the employees, who can buy shares from the Thompson family holding – which is now down to about 28 per cent. The family can only sell its shares to the Employee Benefit Trust which administers the share scheme. The company’s legal rules make it clear that Child Base is established for the benefit of employees – past, present and future.