Leaping Toads Nursery Wins Business of the Year: Barking 2026

Key Points

• Major Award Sweep: Leaping Toads Nursery and Activity Centre secured three main honours, including ‘Business of the Year’, ‘SME of the Year’, and the ‘Business Growth Award’.
• Venue and Host: The accolades were presented during the Barking and Dagenham Chamber of Commerce Business Awards ceremony at Redbridge Football Stadium.
• Service Expansion: The childcare provider recently broadened its operational capacity to accommodate toddlers as young as nine months in response to updated government early years funding initiatives.
• Community Scale: The centre currently supports approximately 250 children across its core nursery facility and supplementary activity modules.
• Specialist Provision: Enhanced learning environments and dedicated facilities have been integrated to assist children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Dagenham (East London Times) July 21, 2026 — Leaping Toads Nursery and Activity Centre achieved top honours by being named ‘Business of the Year’ at the Barking and Dagenham Chamber of Commerce Business Awards. In addition to securing the flagship award, the early years provider took home the ‘SME of the Year’ award and the ‘Business Growth Award’ during the event hosted at Redbridge Football Stadium. The awards celebrate business excellence, innovation, and positive local contributions across the borough.

As reported by the Barking and Dagenham Post, Arabella Faratro, Director of Leaping Toads, stated:

“We are absolutely delighted to receive these awards. Winning three awards, including Business of the Year, is a tremendous honour and a proud milestone for Leaping Toads. We are incredibly grateful to the Chamber of Commerce for this recognition and to our wonderful families for their continued trust and support. These awards inspire us to continue providing the highest quality childcare and early years education for children and families across Barking and Dagenham.”

What Driven Factors Contributed to the Nursery’s Growth and Regional Recognition?

Over the past year, the nursery systematically expanded its operational capacity to offer additional early years places. This strategic scale-up was undertaken in direct response to the UK government’s extended childcare funding scheme, which expanded access for working parents of children aged nine months and above.

Following this expansion, the facility now delivers early learning and care from infancy (nine months old) through to primary school age.

Alongside standard capacity growth, the centre invested in inclusive learning environments and specialized facilities tailored to children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

At present, the nursery and activity centre collectively serve approximately 250 children across the borough.

How Does the Activity Centre Extend Beyond Standard Early Years Care?

Beyond its core early years and nursery offerings, the facility operates extended-hours programming including after-school, evening, and Saturday sessions.

A central element of this extended curriculum is its structured Taekwondo programme. According to the organization, the martial arts sessions are engineered to foster personal resilience, physical fitness, mental discipline, and self-confidence outside the standard classroom setting.

As reported by the Barking and Dagenham Post, Alma Sleckute, Nursery Manager at Leaping Toads, stated:

“This is a fantastic achievement for our whole team. Every day we strive to create a safe, nurturing and inspiring environment where every child can learn, grow and thrive.”

What Is the Background to This Regional Business Development?

The recognition of Leaping Toads Nursery takes place against the backdrop of significant national early years policy shifts across England and Wales.

The government’s phased rollout of expanded entitlement to funded childcare—gradually extending 30 free hours per week to eligible working parents of infants from nine months old—has placed substantial demand on existing early years infrastructure.

Across the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, independent providers have faced dual operational challenges: managing increased local demand for subsidized places while maintaining strict staff-to-child ratios and high care standards.

The Barking and Dagenham Chamber of Commerce Business Awards annually benchmark local enterprise performance across sectors, evaluating organizations on sustainable financial growth, workforce development, innovation, and community integration.

Leaping Toads’ triple victory highlights a sector-wide trend where social care and early education enterprises are competing alongside traditional commercial businesses for top regional honors.

What Is the Prediction for How This Development Will Affect Local Families and the Early Years Sector?

This development is predicted to impact three key target groups across Barking and Dagenham:

• Local Working Parents and Families: The recognized growth and capacity expansion of Leaping Toads offer working families improved access to subsidized early education places for infants under two years old. High-profile validation from the Chamber of Commerce is likely to drive increased parental trust, leading to longer waiting lists for early placements.
• Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND): Continued institutional investment in inclusive infrastructure ensures that children requiring specialized educational support receive targeted assistance within a mainstream setting, lowering early intervention barriers in the borough.
• Regional Early Years Providers and Competitors: The nursery’s recognition for business growth and SME management sets a operational benchmark in the borough. Neighboring childcare providers may be incentivized to diversify their revenue streams—incorporating specialized physical or extracurricular programs like Taekwondo—to remain competitive and attract government-funded placements.