The Challenge: Time-Consuming Manual Processes in a Safeguarding-Focused Sector

At Busy Bees Nurseries, safeguarding is at the heart of everything we do. With hundreds of nurseries across the UK and a large workforce to support, ensuring accurate and timely employment referencing is critical, not just for compliance, but for the safety and well-being of the children in our care.

Previously, our referencing process was entirely manual. Each request required someone on the People team to locate employee records, draft a response, and send it by email. On any given day, we were managing dozens of requests this way. It was repetitive, slow, and placed a heavy strain on our team.

“We were spending so much time digging through records and replying to emails, it felt endless. Referencing started to dominate the team’s workload.”

What began as an administrative task quickly turned into a bottleneck. At one point, two full-time team members spent the majority of their days handling references, pulling attention away from other high-priority HR needs.

The Solution: RefNow’s Automated Platform

Faced with a rising volume of requests and increasing pressure to respond quickly, Busy Bees turned to RefNow.

“We were looking for a platform that could take the stress out of referencing - RefNow delivered exactly that.”

RefNow gave the team a smarter, faster way to manage both incoming and outgoing reference requests. By automating the full process, from request receipt to reference delivery, the platform eliminated the need for manual searches, drafting, and follow-ups.

Instead of sifting through spreadsheets and inboxes, the team now simply oversees the system while RefNow does the heavy lifting.

The Results: More Time, Fewer Errors, and a Stronger HR Operation

Since adopting RefNow, referencing has gone from being a burden to a background process. The system works quietly and efficiently behind the scenes, freeing up the People team to focus on more impactful work.

Key improvements include:

• Significant time savings, with hours of manual work removed from each week.
• Consistent and professional reference responses, regardless of request volume.
• Improved safeguarding confidence, with no delays or missed references.
• Detailed Dashboard, to see key data about our leavers.

“It’s not just easier—it’s smarter. RefNow has taken a complex, high-volume task and made it feel simple.”

A Trusted Tool for a Trusted Brand

As one of the UK’s most well-known childcare providers, Busy Bees is committed to setting high standards across every part of its organisation, including hiring and HR. RefNow has become a vital part of that commitment, ensuring that references are handled with speed, consistency, and care.

Would Busy Bees recommend RefNow?

“Without a doubt. If your team is still manually handling references, it’s time for a change. RefNow has given us hours back every week and peace of mind that the job is getting done right.”