Business remains ‘really positive’ for mother who took the leap to set up successful baby group
Business remains “really positive” for a mother of two who took the leap to set up a successful baby group in the town.
Baby Sensory Northampton went from running in different village halls and surviving the pandemic, to having a permanent venue just outside of Duston.
The weekly activities are based on research around targeting different areas of the brain and enabling all-round development in babies.
It all began when Sarah Walker purchased the Northampton franchise in October 2018, when her son was just over a year old.
As a mother of two, Sarah found there was a lack of baby sensory classes in the town when she had her daughter 15 months earlier than her son.
She was invited to attend classes under the Milton Keynes franchise of Baby Sensory by someone she knew and really enjoyed the experience with her son.
Sarah was made redundant and this is when she decided to go down a different career path, which began with lots of training courses to develop her knowledge ahead of launching her classes.
She has been located at the business’ first permanent venue in Nobottle Road since September 2021, where she and her two staff members offer a learning and development programme for babies up to 13 months old.
The all-round classes assist with mental, physical and social development, and include massage, yoga and sensory activities.
It has been more than a year since founder Sarah last spoke to the Chronicle & Echo, and she says things have remained “really positive” and every term of classes continues to sell out.
The business is increasing its offering to five days a week from Easter to meet the demand and tackle the “huge wait lists”.
When asked what families like most about Baby Sensory Northampton, Sarah said: “We offer everything in one and all-round development for babies.
“There are so many different elements and every class is different for a whole year. Children could come until they are 13 months old and they would never see the same session twice.”
Sarah’s proudest achievements since launching the business are making it to the Midlands final at the What’s On For Kids Awards for the last two years consecutively, and raising more than £10,000 for Tommy’s Baby Charity through a number of events.
The team is also proud to offer parents the opportunity to meet like-minded others, as Sarah recognises it can be isolating if no one else around you has had a baby.
The founder proudly spoke of the fact that some individuals who attended her classes six years ago have made “lifelong friends” and stayed in touch, with their children having started school at a similar time.
Looking to the future of Baby Sensory Northampton, Sarah would like to offer her classes in a different area – which may involve a mobile service or securing a second venue.
“But I want to make sure our current classes remain enriched as they are now,” she said. “It is easy to lose sight of that when the classes are full. We want to continue that amazing experience.”