Emily Carter set up her first nursery in Middleton, Tamworth in 2017 and now has four sites across the West Midlands.

Unity funding supported her to open a second nursery in Walmley, Sutton Coldfield in 2021, a third in Whittington in 2023 and a fourth in Aldridge in 2024 thanks to a £332,000 loan.

The nurseries provide over 200 childcare places across all four sites. There are a range of extra curricular activities and with a strong focus on health and wellbeing, all food is freshly prepared on site.

Emily, director at Isatlas, said: “The nurseries have grown beyond belief because of the reputation that we’ve worked so hard to build up.

“We follow the Reggio Amelia approach which is a very natural child-led way to teaching and learning. It creates a really unique experience and environment for children to thrive.”

Emily was first introduced to Unity through a broker.

She said: “There’s a personalised, tailored approach at Unity that you don’t get from other banks.

“Our Relationship Manager, Sukhie Gakhal, has been really supportive. She has faith in me because she knows what I’m trying to achieve.

“It’s nice to be with a bank that has a moral compass and that translates to how Unity works with its customers.”

Impact:

The nursery allows the use of free government hours and 70% of pupils are local authority funded.

With an acute shortage of childcare places in Aldridge, Walsall Council provided a grant towards the expansion of Old Railway House Nursery to create extra places.

The nursery had a complete back to brick refurbishment and a derelict loft was brought back into use.

Emily said: “The local authority are completely on board because there weren’t any nursery spaces in the area.

“I saw what the demand was like on the first open day when 47 families turned up.

“The loft extension has increased our capacity from 35 to 55 and I’m hoping a further 20 places will be created through a single storey extension.

“It feels good to be able to increase the size of the provision in the area and assist working parents.”

More than 80 staff are employed across all four nurseries including a regular intake of apprentices.

Emily added: “I’m committed to taking on apprentices because they are the future; they learn from more experienced staff and will help our industry survive.”