Effortless Safeguarding with Automated Referencing: How Busy Bees streamlined HR with RefNow
Busy Bees Nurseries is a leading name in early years education, dedicated to giving children the best start in life across the world. With over 40 years of experience nurturing young minds, the brand has earned a trusted reputation among families globally. Today, in the UK alone, Busy Bees operates more than 390 nurseries and employs over 10,000 dedicated team members. Managing such a large and passionate workforce in the childcare sector presents unique challenges, particularly when it comes to HR processes like employment references, where accuracy, speed, and safeguarding are critical.
Customer Spotlight: Busy Bees Nurseries
Trusted childcarers for generations, Busy Bees take safeguarding seriously. Handling hundreds of employee reference requests daily, often for ex-staff, placed considerable strain on their People team and introduced risk through delays or oversights.
The Challenge: Manual referencing draining HR
Before RefNow:
- Time-consuming: Team members manually located records, drafted responses, and managed email correspondence
- Repetitive: Two full-time staff were principally engaged in reference tasks, diverting them from other HR duties
- Risk-prone: Manual methods increased the likelihood of delayed, inconsistent safeguarding outcomes
We were spending so much time digging through records and replying to emails, it felt endless. Referencing started to dominate the team’s workload.
- Busy Bees HR Team
That admin bottleneck began to erode HR morale and efficiency; at a time when child safety demanded prompt, accurate referencing.
The Solution: Full automation via RefNow
Busy Bees implemented RefNow to automate every stage: from receiving requests to delivering completed references. HR now uploads employee data or syncs with their system; RefNow handles consent capture, tracking, follow-ups, and secure output. Instead of email chains and admin sprints, the team supervises the platform while RefNow works in the background.
The Results: Freed-up time, consistency, and safeguarding baked in
- Significant time recovered weekly: Manual referencing time cut dramatically
- Reliable and consistent responses: Every request followed the same structured, professional template
- Enhanced safeguarding: No missed or delayed references, giving better oversight of ex-employee vetting
- Insightful dashboards: Clear visibility of leavers and reference activity - all at a glance
RefNow has taken a complex, high-volume task and made it feel simple.
- Ruth Hayzen‑Smith, People & Culture Manager
Why it matters beyond nurseries
If your organisation handles regular reference requests - whether you’re in education, social care, healthcare, retail, or hospitality - RefNow delivers:
- Automated, audit-ready performance
- Time-saving efficiencies
- Compliance and safeguarding assurance
- HR capacity freed for strategic work
Key Takeaways & Next Step
Outcomes Delivered:
- Fully automated inbound and outbound referencing
- HR hours restored to strategic work
- Safeguarding standards consistently upheld
If your team is trapped in manual referencing, it's time to automate. Busy Bees describe RefNow as “a game-changer”.
Ready to achieve similar results?
Book a demo today to streamline reference‑checking, reduce risk, and hire confidently.