Speakers

Cheryl Hadland, MA(Ed), is the founder and CEO of Hadland Care Group; founder and Chair of Tops Day Nurseries, Aspire Training Team and GECCO (Green Early Years Champions for Change), a charity that shares good practice in sustainability within the early years sector.  Tops and Aspire employ approximately 900 staff, educate and care for 4500 children per year and 400 learners, and combined turnover is approximately £25m.

Tops became B.Corp in 2021, was awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise (Sustainable Development) in 2022 for thought leadership and innovation in early years education.  Tops were the first large group of nurseries where all settings had achieved Eco Schools Green Flags, SAS Plastic Free Champions, and the group has been operating at NetZero CO2e emissions (Scope 1, 2 and those 3s that can be measured) since October 2023.

After studying sustainability with Cambridge University post-grad, she will defend her doctoral thesis on sustainability in the early years in early 2025. 

Cheryl is a regular speaker at international and UK events such as the World Forum, EECERA, OMEP, Nursery World and NMT Owners Clubs, offering practical and pragmatic advice and guidance on sustainability to engage with all stakeholders in the nursery sector.