PRESS RELEASE - Babilou Family unveils its new strategic transformation plan to accelerate its growth and development by 2028
Babilou Family, one of the world’s leading early years education providers operating in 10 countries, today announces the roll-out of its new strategic plan for 2028. Following a restructuring of its governance, this marks a new stage in the Group’s transformation, with the aim of becoming the leading education provider in every country where it operates.
The result of an unprecedented collaborative approach, this plan was developed in partnership with frontline teams from over 1 ,000 nurseries, parent panels and all country teams. It is built around four fundamental pillars and commitments that will guide all the Group’s actions through to 2028 :
1. Ensuring impeccable safety and quality of care
As a top priority, Babilou Family is raising its standards for child safety with a series of new commitments. To ensure this, the Group is launching ‘engaged’, a reinforced audit programme centred around a charter of 12 commitments shared by all the Group’s nurseries, which aims to guarantee compliance with local regulations and Babilou Family’s safety commitments. The Group has also set itself the goal of obtaining certification from the leading local accreditation bodies by 2028 for all its centres. Babilou Family has also become the first player in the sector to introduce a monthly parent satisfaction survey, which has been in place since April. This regular consultation enables us to gauge parents’ expectations and the quality of our work, so that we can continue to improve our practices on an ongoing basis.
2.Improving the well-being of nursery staff to tackle the skills shortage in the early years sector
The Group places its 14,000 employees at the heart of its transformation. To offer them genuine career paths, Babilou Family will roll out a programme in every country to support personal development and internal promotion, with the aim of having 65% of managers promoted from within within three years.
To enhance training for staff in nurseries and at head office, a 10-hour course on educational issues will be offered. Finally, to continue its commitment to gender equality, Babilou Family has set itself the
target of having 50% women in its management teams by 2028.
3. Extending the Group’s educational mission across all its centres
Over the past three years, Babilou Family has carried out in-depth work to develop its educational practices based on neuroscience, notably through the publication of its book Sustainable Education and the organisation of the International Congress on Neuroscience in Early Childhood Education, in partnership with UNESCO in 2024.
Today, Babilou Family reaffirms its educational mission, with the aim of enabling children to develop their curiosity, self-confidence and social skills.
To continue improving its educational programmes, Babilou Family is establishing an Educational and Scientific Committee comprising five recognised experts in the fields of 1 neuroscience and psychology : Dr Grégoire Borst (Université Paris Cité, Paris), Dr Carmen Dione (Université des Trois-Rivières, Canada), Dr Angela Low (University of Vancouver, Canada), Dr Edward Melhuish (University of Oxford, UK) and Dr Amalini Simon (APHP, Paris). This educational committee will meet for the first time on 9 July.
Babilou Family also uses the findings of scientific research to translate them into concrete improvements in the relationship between educators and parents within nurseries. Thus, by 2027, all parents will benefit from three induction sessions and two observation sessions with nursery professionals.
More broadly, Babilou Family is committed to strengthening children’s awareness of nature and the environment in its educational programmes : by 2026, all nurseries will have a green space, and the Group is committed to ensuring that by 2028, all children will be able to enjoy at least one outdoor outing per day.
4. Playing an even greater role in addressing major societal challenges, particularly the falling birth rate
To offer more childcare solutions and support families, the Group has announced the opening of around 200 new nurseries worldwide by 2028.
The Babilou Family Foundation has decided to allocate a third of its budget to research into the impact of childcare arrangements on rising birth rates in developed countries. Between now and 2026, it will focus its efforts on children’s health, research into birth rates and funding for educational innovation.
“Our ambition is bold, matching the scale of our mission : to build a better world through education and by focusing on every child. We aim to become the leading private nursery operator worldwide, and to remain the place where children are best cared for, where staff are most committed to supporting children’s development, whilst ensuring uncompromising safety and quality. To this end, we have set clear targets for 2028 and defined concrete measures to drive a comprehensive initiative” says Christophe Fond, CEO of Babilou Family.