Busy Bees job reviews

Showing 94 reviews

• Best thing

  Parents and children

  Worst thing

  Not getting out for paper work

  2.1

  Practitioner at Busy Bees, March 2025

• Best thing

  Seeing the children develop and grow, forming bonds with families

  Worst thing

  Expected to do more than you are paid, short staffed all the time, no help with children who need 1-1, not enough time to do observations, just there as a number not a person, higher ups don’t care about mental health (and so much more)

  1.6

  Nursery practitioner at Busy Bees, February 2025

• Best thing

  How rewarding the children make it

  Worst thing

  Staff

  1.6

  Nursery practitioner at Busy Bees, February 2025

• Best thing

  The children and some of the people I work with.

  Worst thing

  Busy Bees is a terrible company to work for and would not recommend it to anyone. All they care about is money and how they look to the public. Any perks they offer is just to make themselves try to look good. The way they have treated members of staff in my place of work is awful and frustrating. If you’re thinking of working in childcare, DO NOT put Busy Bees at the top of your list.

  3.4

  Nursery practitioner at Busy Bees, February 2025

• Best thing

  The children

  Worst thing

  The written work

  5.0

  Nursery practitioner at Busy Bees, January 2025

• Best thing

  The children

  Worst thing

  The assistant manager

  3.4

  Childcare practitioner at Busy Bees, January 2025

• Best thing

  The family’s and other staff you get to work with

  Worst thing

  Paperwork

  7.8

  Room leader at Busy Bees, January 2025

• Best thing

  Bettering children’s lives

  Worst thing

  Long hours
  Short breaks
  Low pay

  1.6

  Childcare practitioner at Busy Bees, December 2024

• Best thing

  the children

  Worst thing

  the staff, the pay, the management

  1.6

  Employee at Busy Bees, November 2024

• Best thing

  The family’s I get to know

  Worst thing

  The volume of work and lack of time to do it

  5.0

  Third in charge at Busy Bees, September 2024

• Best thing

  The children
  Helping SEN children develop

  Worst thing

  It’s very cliquey. You get left on your own while all other staff are together in one room.
  You’re a complete outsider if you’re 0 hours.
  Barely get any shifts apart from lunch cover on 0 hours (and then they hired extra staff to cover proper shifts).
  Nitpicking.

  4.3

  Early years practitioner at Busy Bees, September 2024

• Best thing

  The people, the overall job

  Worst thing

  Too much

  8.9

  Credit control administrator at Busy Bees, June 2024

• Best thing

  Seeing the children progress.
  Knowing you've helped SEN children develop.
  Knowing the children have a bond with you.
  Bonding with parents.
  Working in a room where i get along with others.

  Worst thing

  Pettiness.
  Cliques.
  Management having favourites.
  Unrealistic demands on busy days.
  No consideration for staff's wellbeing.
  Over ratio.

  Not taking into consideration that a room needs extra help for when SEN children are in and the 1:3/1:5/1:8 ratio can't be done when the SEN child needs your whole attention.
  NEVER getting off on time.
  You can't even book a doctor's appointment without scrutiny.
  No praise.
  Scare mongering and threats with moving you into another room if you aren't doing well.

  You don't feel valued, you are just a number in a room to account for the children, they don't care if you're sick, if your pet is dying or sick, if you want to go to your close friend or in laws funeral ("because they aren't family")
  I can go on.....

  3.7

  Early years practitioner at Busy Bees, June 2024

• Best thing

  Children
  Staff team
  Pay

  Worst thing

  Sick pay
  Calling in sick

  6.1

  Early years practitioner at Busy Bees, June 2024

• Best thing

  The team,close to home

  Worst thing

  Some management aren’t supportive

  3.5

  Centre manager at Busy Bees, June 2024

• Best thing

  The children
  Some staff members
  Weekends off

  Worst thing

  Management don’t give a crap about you
  Pay isn’t livable
  Staff are very cliquey
  Expected to do overtime every day because we “don’t have the staff”
  Often asked to work overtime/ demanded to work overtime
  No time for paperwork
  Room managers pick and choose who they like
  Not good work/home balance
  Expected to do training in your holiday time/ not paid for training expected to do it at home
  Rotas are changed +3x a week with no notice
  Most staff are terrified to call in sick in fear of being treated horribly

  1.3

  Nursery practitioner at Busy Bees, June 2024

• Best thing

  Staff

  Worst thing

  Pay, over worked,far too many expectations , long hours not being paid for over tine

  3.4

  Nursery manager at Busy Bees, March 2024

• Best thing

  rewarding job role, never a dull moment, the day goes quickly, having an impact on our future generation, doing something you love

  Worst thing

  can be stressful

  7.6

  Early years educator at Busy Bees, February 2024

• Best thing

  I work with a supportive and close team. The staff here are amazing and truly want the best for the children, parents and their colleagues.

  Worst thing

  A lot of hours but this is excepted when you become part of the management team

  8.0

  Assistant manager at Busy Bees, February 2024

• Best thing

  My Team
  The children

  Worst thing

  I find it upsetting that the company invest money into new nurseries and make them look amazing with new resources and decor, when there are other nurseries that look run down and uninviting.
  I also find it unfair that some room Leaders expected to run more than one room, but are paid near enough the same as staff who only oversee one or two staff members.

  9.2

  Room leader at Busy Bees, February 2024

• Best thing

  Seeing the children happy

  Worst thing

  Struggling for resources

  6.1

  Employee at Busy Bees, February 2024

• Best thing

  The people, the team you work with.

  Worst thing

  The pay, not paid overtime, the staffing

  6.0

  Manager at Busy Bees, February 2024

• Best thing

  The children

  Worst thing

  Fear of being criticised, being nitpicked at all the time and very few compliments

  5.0

  Room leader at Busy Bees, February 2024

• Best thing

  Very busy department but the team spirit and buddy system is fantastic, very supportive with a great "can do" attitude. Management understand how important your role is and how intense it can be and always have your back

  Worst thing

  Time is always against you with deadlines looming so you have to be super organised and committed and you have to love spreadsheets!

  9.9

  Funding administrator at Busy Bees, February 2024

• Best thing

  No day is the same, which keeps the job interesting and challenging. I work with amazing and passionate colleagues. My manager is a great support and always checks in on my wellbeing. Busy Bees have offered me lots of training to keep my skills and knowledge up to date. I love my job and I’m very happy!

  Worst thing

  Shift working can be difficult, especially as a parent with a child in school.

  7.0

  Centre manager at Busy Bees, February 2024

• Best thing

  Meet new people

  Worst thing

  Treated like robots
  If your Ill you are expected to come into work
  Don’t work there if you have life threatening food allergies because you will end up in hospital

  1.3

  Nursery practitioner at Busy Bees, February 2024

• Best thing

  the children

  Worst thing

  children having accidents

  9.7

  Room manager at Busy Bees, December 2023

• Best thing

  Working with the children

  Worst thing

  The

  2.8

  Apprentice at Busy Bees, December 2023

• Best thing

  People in my centre

  Worst thing

  Low pay (minimum wage)
  Head office has cut funding for cleaning and resources
  Always in a room that makes me stressed

  2.6

  Relief at Busy Bees, October 2023

• Best thing

  Seeing babies and playing with them

  Worst thing

  The boss is absolutely horrible

  1.4

  Relief staff at Busy Bees, September 2023

• Best thing

  Helping the children learn and grow

  Worst thing

  Over ratio a lot
  Managers don’t seem to care
  Rotas not efficient
  Lack of supplies

  2.0

  Nursery nurse at Busy Bees, June 2023

• Best thing

  The children

  Worst thing

  The overtime, management

  2.0

  Apprentice at Busy Bees, June 2023

• Best thing

  The children
  Meeting friends
  Further education

  Worst thing

  Pay
  Holiday
  Sickness absences

  3.5

  Early years practitioner at Busy Bees, June 2023

• Best thing

  The lively environment, seeing children hit milestones.

  Worst thing

  Unrealistic expectations, impossible to complete daily tasks without conflicts, underpaid and undervalued, treated like an annoyance by management for doing your job.

  2.3

  Early years practitioner at Busy Bees, April 2023

• Best thing

  Close knit
  Can be stressful at times

  Worst thing

  Close knit
  Moods are tricked down
  Lack of respect most of the time

  7.8

  Early years practitioner at Busy Bees, March 2023

• Best thing

  The sense of team support, my manager and I have worked together for 15years. The children and families are a strong positive, the relationships are what make the job enjoyable. There’s always a challenge if you’d like one and opportunity for growth.

  Worst thing

  Long hours, travelling to my centre is hard but due to London traffic.

  9.8

  Assistant manager at Busy Bees, March 2023

• Best thing

  Different every day
  The children
  My work colleagues
  Locality

  Worst thing

  Pay
  Stress
  Staff turn over and sickness

  6.2

  Assistant manager at Busy Bees, March 2023

• Best thing

  The children
  Some staff members

  Worst thing

  Over ratio
  Management
  Booking annual leave
  Rudeness about sickness

  1.8

  Nursery nurse at Busy Bees, March 2023

• Best thing

  The children, and some staff members within my room are amazing

  Worst thing

  Management

  2.0

  Nursery practitioner at Busy Bees, March 2023

• Best thing

  The people I work with.
  The benefits as an employee

  Worst thing

  Long days but this is my choice

  9.8

  Manager at Busy Bees, February 2023

• Best thing

  freindly team and enjoyable day

  Worst thing

  the pay, hardly get any hours,

  9.3

  Bank staff at Busy Bees, February 2023

• Worst thing

  Staffing levels
  Staff attitudes
  Low Morale
  Workload levels

  4.9

  Assistant manager at Busy Bees, February 2023

• Best thing

  Kind staff , good management

  Worst thing

  Higher management don’t see how it really is

  6.8

  Nursery assistant at Busy Bees, January 2023

• Best thing

  Working with children and its having fun with the children too

  Worst thing

  Nothing

  9.9

  Nursery practitioner at Busy Bees, January 2023

• Best thing

  getting to know the children and seeing their development

  Worst thing

  rude staff, favouritism between staff (some staff get longer breaks if they are “liked more”), 30 minute breaks, not considerate about disabilities

  1.5

  Nursery nurse at Busy Bees, January 2023

• Best thing

  Not working weekends

  Worst thing

  Stress
  Over ratios
  Setting up
  Talking to parents
  No given all breaks

  3.7

  Room leader at Busy Bees, January 2023

• Best thing

  Working with children and seeing the children develop

  Worst thing

  Being paid wrong, rota changes last minute and bullying within the workplace because of being different and not like anyone else.

  3.2

  Early years practitioner at Busy Bees, December 2022

• Best thing

  The staff I work with, discount on child care, children I look after

  Worst thing

  Too much paper work, can't book holiday I want, no enough work home balance

  2.6

  Early years practitioner at Busy Bees, November 2022

• Best thing

  Seeing children progress
  Building bonds with children

  Worst thing

  Over workerd
  Room over populated
  Expected to stay after your shift if you can't get out due to ratio
  sometime your shift ends at 4:30 but you can't get out till 5:30
  no staff support

  2.6

  Early years practitioner at Busy Bees, November 2022

• Best thing

  Looking after the children

  Worst thing

  Managment

  1.2

  Early years practitioner at Busy Bees, November 2022