Parents who work at Mountain Buggy are some of the luckiest in the country when it comes to childcare.
The international, Kiwi company not only designs and manufactures buggies and other juvenile product for infants and preschoolers, but also has an onsite daycare centre called minimee.
Located in a converted warehouse space, downstairs in its Wellington office, the daycare received a full early childhood education and care centre license last month.
Catering exclusively for children of Mountain Buggy and phil&teds employees, minimee is the only in-company childcare centre in the capital that’s staffed and managed internally.
minimee is the brainchild of one of the company’s executive directors, Laura Ming-Wong, and chief executive, Campbell Gower, following the development and success of their school holiday programme.
Centre manager, Celia Fairfax-Darrall, says minimee is all about helping parents fulfill that need to balance work and family life, as well as make returning to work that much easier for staff that are new parents.
With a current roll of 15, up to 14 children can attend the childcare centre at any one time.
As well as offering excellent adult-to-child ratios, a clear advantage for parents is minimee’s close proximity. Celia notes parents can pop down for a visit, have lunch with their children, or if they are unwell, assess them on the spot.
“It also means there’s no need to rush both to and from work to drop-off and pick-up their children from another childcare facility.
“There are huge benefits to the company when staff are happier and more relaxed,” Celia says.
Cathy Xia
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