Meet the founder of tiney

I’m Brett Wigdortz, founder of tiney, and as a father of three, I know how hard it is to find good quality child care that you can afford and that’s right for your children. Before starting tiney, I was running Teach First and my wife was  (and still is) working as a paramedic.

That made for some complicated scheduling and lots of childcare juggling. We wanted a childcare solution that was local and where our kids could learn, have fun and feel really comfortable. I was seeing first-hand the impact that innovative thinking was having on secondary and primary schools through the Teach First model, so I started brainstorming how we could improve early years provision in a similar way. I started by mapping out what our ‘dream’ childcare solution would look like and how we could combine accessible, affordable childcare with a drive to improve educational standards.  Tiney was built out of my passion to help every child get the best start in life; and my lived experience of struggling to find the right childcare for my kids.

Do you find improving the life chances of children fundamental to your vision?

40% of the gap between disadvantaged and advantaged pupils at age 16 emerges before children start school at age 5. Making sure that our youngest children get the very best early years education is critical to what I’m aiming to achieve. The importance of the early years in setting children up for life cannot be overstated.

How did you identify a gap in the market for a new approach to childcare?

I launched tiney in 2019 as a solution to the childcare crisis, which has been heavily impacting families across the UK and the world for years.  When you look at the data, it’s shocking how few affordable childcare places exist. Parents are struggling to find a nursery or childminder that suits their needs and their budgets, and even where capacity exists, the quality of education provision is often far below the standard that children ought to be receiving at this crucial life stage. 

This current status quo isn’t just holding back the academic and social development of a generation of children, it’s putting a huge strain on parents and often preventing them (particularly mothers) from re-entering the workforce. It was clear to me there was a need for a solution like tiney. 

What key lesson did you take from your experience of leading Teach First?

I took my first leap into leadership in 2002, when I founded the charity Teach First to help tackle education inequality in the UK. This was a very immediate response to the entrenched problems I was seeing at the time in London’s schools. I started out with just 11 employees and a belief that I could make a difference. 

This unshakeable conviction attracted some incredibly talented and committed social innovators and educators, including colleagues, supporters, advisors and, most importantly, thousands of fantastic teachers and school leaders. Together we transformed Teach First into a national movement. Teach First has positively impacted the life chances of over a million young people from disadvantaged backgrounds, something which I aim to continue through my new venture tiney.

The key lesson I took from founding Teach First was that in order to achieve a healthier, more equitable society, we must empower people with the tools and services they need to thrive. This is the philosophy that underpins my vision for tiney, which focuses on community-level education and empowerment with the aim of transforming the UK’s childcare sector.

How did you find the scaling up process? 

The process of growing my idea from a small London pilot into the nation’s largest graduate recruiter taught me that no problem worth solving is going to be easy. To make a real impact, nine times out of ten you are going to need to seriously shake up the status quo - and that’s not always going to make you the most popular person. Staying true to your mission in the face of obstacles and opposition requires bravery and self-belief: two important qualities for leaders.  

What does the future of tiney look like?

We’ve had an incredibly positive first year at tiney, growing rapidly despite the challenges of the pandemic. Over 12,300 people have applied to our training programme since last March, and new tiney home nurseries are opening their doors every week with about over 120 already up and running. Internally, our head office team is growing at a rapid rate too. We’re scaling our team quickly and we’re still recruiting.  

Looking ahead, we’re incredibly excited to continue to expand into new parts of the country. Our latest expansion has taken us outside of London for the first time, and we have further geographic growth planned for 2021. 

Many nurseries have had to close during the pandemic, can tiney offer a viable solution? 

With the pressures of the COVID-19 lockdown putting hundreds of nurseries at risk of closure, it’s now more important than ever that new, affordable models of childcare are offered to parents. By training up a new generation of childminders and supporting people to open their own home nurseries, we’re creating flexible and hyperlocal childcare spaces and giving parents more options in addition to nurseries. We’re servicing the demand for effective childcare, whilst creating viable (and well-paid) careers in the sector. It’s an incredibly effective solution to the problem and we can already see the impact it is having.