Member Stories: British Orchard Centre

British Orchard Centre is an early years specialist training provider and early years consultancy company.  They have been in the centre now since February 2017 and have already expanded offices once, and are looking to do so again in the future.

How did you start your company?
British Orchard Centre (BOC) is an extension of British Orchard Nurseries which is based in the United Arab Emirates. British Orchard Nurseries have just celebrated their 10 year anniversary, and we ourselves have been open 2 years now.

What are you working on at the moment?
We are currently in the process of opening our first nursery in Wheatley, Oxfordshire.  This has been a big and exciting step for us, and a challenge.  The centre has been very helpful during this period, taking in parcels for us and giving us all the support that we could possibly need.

What do you like about Bicester Innovation Centre?
The staff at the centre are incredibly friendly, approachable, and have a real “can-do” attitude.  Nothing is too much for them, and they even help me with little things such as IT problems and photography, which goes above and beyond the required level of customer service.

Something that really appealed to me was the flexibility to be able to change offices as the company grows.  I started off in a small office, but have already expanded once, and everyone was incredibly helpful.

What projects/ambitions do you have for the future of your company?
We are looking to increase our training centre by 100% which would in turn, mean we would need a bigger office again.  We will also be expanding our chain of nurseries and will be carrying out paediatric first aid courses and early years short courses.  It is really handy knowing that I have the conference room available at the Bicester Innovation Centre to hold these in.