Busy Bees Case Study

Busy Bees and Gompels logos

Busy Bees is Europe’s leading early years provider, with 379 centres in the UK and Channel Islands alone and close to 900 globally. Busy Bees was founded in 1983 by three families who wanted to provide exciting, innovative care for their own children, in an environment that presented opportunities for play, interaction and development, simply because they wanted them to have the best start in life.

Like all business and Early Years settings, Covid has been a huge challenge for Busy Bees. Busy Bees care for over 42,000 children all over the UK and keeping them, their parents and their 9,000 staff safe is an absolute priority. In 2020, Busy Bees were looking for a supplier they could hold a long-lasting relationship with, a supplier who could offer them great pricing, constant supply of their key products, fantastic account management and regular communication. Due to issues beyond Busy Bees’ control, all UK centres had to be set up with a new supplier with deliveries taking place within a matter of days.

picture of Edwalton nursery

Gompels created all accounts within two days of being engaged as a supplier, including creating bespoke communications which were issued to each centre regarding their new account to help them transition to the new way of ordering. Gompels worked closely with Busy Bees’ Procurement team to ensure all centres could access their accounts. Gompels continue to work to ensure the accounts run smoothly on an ongoing basis. Gompels provided great support during the pandemic, rolling out a strategic stock reserve for key PPE lines. Not only did this provide peace of mind, but it allowed Busy Bees’ centres to remain open safely. Gompels work very closely with Busy Bees’ Procurement team. With a dedicated account manager and regular input from Gompels’ Managing Director, Sam Gompels, a strong loyal partnership allows for regular, honest updates in regards to the current market, pricing, and stock levels to keep Busy Bees ahead of the curve. Busy Bees work from a bespoke core list which has carefully been put together by teams on both sides of the relationship to allow a streamlined selection of products at the best price possible. Gompels and Busy Bees work closely with providing COSHH data and Safety Data Sheets - rigorous checks are carried out by Busy Bees’ Safety team before a product is added to the core list.

Time saving tools for groups

Charlton nursery

Busy Bees would not have been able to operate as smoothly as we have done for the last two years without the support received from Gompels. Whilst at times throughout the pandemic supplies were strained, the team at Gompels were on hand to provide their insight and market knowledge keeping Busy Bees informed and allowing us to plan ahead. We worked together on creative solutions to enable our centres to continue to operate safely. As we now look forward, we continue to work with Gompels to develop new ways of working and to pilot new eco-friendly products as ESG becomes embedded in everything that Busy Bees does as an organisation. Keelie Leahy - Procurement Director

9500 orders placed 99% delivered the next day, in full

Bitteswell nursery

The Busy Bees account runs efficiently with frequent communication between Busy Bees’ Procurement team and Gompels’ dedicated account manager being key. Gompels understand and support Busy Bees’ values at all times and are dedicated to providing those key products to all centres. If you have a group of Nurseries and are interested in switching to Gompels for your supplies, please get in touch with a key account manager to discuss your requirements in more detail.

By continuing to use our site you agree to us using cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy. Accept & Close

chat Feedback
Product Alerts
Close

Opt in to Gompels e-mails for stock alerts, new product launches & special offers (we email once every 1-2 weeks)

Thank you for opting in!

By opting in, you consent to us contacting you about stock alerts, new product launches & special offers. Our Privacy Policy
© 2024, Gompels HealthCare Ltd