About Sweet Peas

Shaping children’s futures and safeguarding their present

Sweet Peas was never just a business idea. It was born from a feeling many parents recognise.

That moment when you imagine walking away from the nursery door. The weight of responsibility. The quiet questions in your mind.

Will they understand my child?
Will they comfort them properly?
Will they notice the little things?

Sweet Peas began with that understanding. At the heart of everything we do is one clear commitment:

We are shaping children’s futures and safeguarding their present.

That means protecting childhood, nurturing confidence and laying strong foundations all within an environment where children feel secure, happy and genuinely cared for.

Because when children feel safe now, they are free to grow into who they are meant to become.

Our Story

Sweet Peas began with our founder, Heléna Strachan.

Her early career was in business. After leaving school, she joined British Gas on a school leaver programme, studying business, marketing and accountancy alongside working. It built resilience, commercial awareness and a strong work ethic.

At 21, she bought a licensed tearoom in Harrogate. It was loved by customers and had a wonderful team, but financially it proved challenging. That experience shaped her determination to build something sustainable and values-led in the future.

Then came motherhood.

Three children in quick succession. A busy, happy home filled with love and laughter and strong routines.

Heléna chose to stay at home while her children were young. She did not use childcare herself, not because she did not believe in it, but because she could not picture somewhere that felt how she needed it to feel.

Her children were content and settled. Home was calm. Predictable. Safe.

If she were ever to leave them, it would have needed to feel like that.

And that is where the vision formed.

A Vision of Home

Heléna did not want to create somewhere clinical.

She wanted to create a true home from home experience.

A nursery that felt like family.
A place with warmth in its rooms and kindness in its tone.
An environment that felt calm the moment you walked through the door.

She understood exactly what parents feel at the thought of leaving their child.

The instinct to protect.
The desire for reassurance.
The need to know your child will be known, not just supervised.

That understanding shaped everything. The environment had to feel right. But just as importantly, the team had to feel right.

Recruiting through our core values is vital. Skills can be taught. Qualifications can be gained. Warmth, empathy and emotional intelligence are essential.

The right people create the right atmosphere.

That is how you build a nursery that feels like home.

From One Baby to Something Bigger

In 2004, when her youngest son was three, Heléna began helping her sister with childcare. It started as a simple family favour.

One baby.
One familiar space.
One safe pair of arms.

Through conversations at playgroups, in the dancing school café and at the school gate, it became clear that many parents felt the same uncertainty she once had. They needed childcare but they wanted it to feel personal, calm and genuinely caring.

The idea grew naturally from there.

Inscape – The First Step (2005)

In April 2005, Heléna launched the UK’s first out-of-school clubs for children aged 3 to 19. The name Inscape was chosen by the pupils themselves.

It ran successfully for seven years and built strong community partnerships.

Plans for a full day nursery followed. Planning permission was secured but lease challenges meant the project stalled.

Rather than wait, Heléna chose to take control of her own path.

The Birth of Sweet Peas (2010)

After approaching the competition, in May 2010, Heléna purchased an existing nursery and began transforming it from the inside out.

This was not just a business decision. It was the opportunity to create the nursery of her dreams.

The focus was clear:

• Building a values-led team
• Creating calm, welcoming environments
• Providing nutritious food
• Establishing consistent routines
• Raising standards across every detail

Within months, families could feel the difference.

Trust grew.
Word spread.
A waiting list formed.

Sweet Peas Nursery was born.

Our Approach

Our environments are thoughtfully designed around a hygge-inspired philosophy – calm, comforting and intentionally nurturing.

For children, this means:

• Cosy spaces where they can settle
• Gentle routines that create security
• Adults who kneel down, listen and truly engage
• Time to explore with confidence
• Familiar faces who build strong attachments

For parents, it means:

• Honest communication
• Strong safeguarding practice
• A team who genuinely know your child
• Leadership that is visible and hands-on

As an independently owned nursery group, decisions are made locally. Families are known personally. We are not driven by distant targets or corporate structures.

That independence protects what matters most – your child’s daily experience and your peace of mind.

Sweet Peas Today

Today, Sweet Peas offers two nurseries in Leeds:

• Sweet Peas Garforth 
• Sweet Peas Rothwell

Each setting has its own personality and its own team, but both share the same heart.

You see it in the warm welcomes each morning.
In the careful settling-in process.
In the muddy trousers after outdoor adventures.
In the pride children show when they share their day.

Most importantly, you see it in children who feel secure, valued and happy.

Looking Ahead

As we continue to grow, including the opening of Sweet Peas Rothwell in 2026, our focus remains steady.

Growth for us is never about becoming bigger for the sake of it.

It is about strengthening our environments, investing in our team and deepening the trust families place in us.

We grow because more children deserve to experience Sweet Peas – to feel safe, to feel known and to begin their early years in a place that truly nurtures them.

A nursery experience should do more than care for children during the day. It should gently prepare them for what comes next.

That means learning practical self-care skills, building independence, developing the communication and social confidence needed to follow instructions and make friends and working closely with local primary schools so the transition into Reception feels calm, supported and familiar.

When children leave us for school, they leave not only happy and secure but ready.

Because childhood is precious.

And we are privileged to be part of it.

Why “Sweet Peas”?

Because that is what Heléna called her babies when they were born – her “little sweet peas”.

And that is still how we see every child who walks through our doors.

Not as a number.
Not as a place filled.
But as someone’s whole world.

Sweet Peas is not just childcare

It is a safe, nurturing environment where children feel secure, supported and happy and where parents feel confident in the care their child receives.