all of that with these two. there they are, the eu commissioner in charge of its new care strategy, and the boss of partou it s one of the world s biggest childcare providers. also on the show, i m going to be asking the head honcho of the global hotel giant radisson group about the surging dollar, china lockdowns and how he s growing the company in the era of aianb. wherever you rejoining me from around the world, once again, a big hello and a warm welcome to the show. you know, while the covid pandemic set off an economic firestorm across the world, as we sheltered in our homes, millions of us had to take up home schooling. is mummy a good school teacher? no. but after covid came the war in ukraine, which sparked rising living costs around the world. while governments have focused much of their efforts on help with things like energy bills for businesses and families, there are also new schemes in different parts of the world to help with the cost of childcare. and it s i
where the skies are clear and the winds are light, east anglia and the south east. some of the countryside is close to freezing tomorrow. it will feel cold but a lot of sunshine continues during the day. northern ireland and scotland, the rain moves through with strong winds, even severe gales in the western isles. some of the rain reaching cumbria and anglesey in the afternoon. most of england and wales will be dry and a touch milder here. the headlines. police say ten people have been killed and eight injured in an explosion at a petrol station in county donegal, in the republic of ireland. a massive fire has severely damaged the strategically important road and rail bridge connecting occupied crimea to russia. ukrainian officials say they ve found two mass burial sites in the recently liberated town of lyman one with around 200 graves. now on bbc news, talking business. hello, everybody. a very warm welcome to talking business weekly, with me, aaron heselhurst. let s tak
Sky-rocketing energy prices, increasing staff costs and an ongoing recruitment crisis mean that early years groups have had no respite in the wake of the pandemic. Annette Rawstrone speaks to some chains about these challenges and their strategies
Businesses? the netherlands based company partou has 900 centres, it employs 9,000 child carers who look after some 70,000 kids. jeanine lemmens, the big boss of partou. a real pleasure having you on the show. jeanine, can we start with this, because the european union wants to see more affordable childcare so, well, so more kids can go to care centres. the eu has asked countries to agree to more ambitious targets. do you think these are achievable? well, in order to achieve the eu targets, individual member nations need to address the infrastructure and the provision that already exists. and the difference are really huge at the moment. overall, the childcare sector in europe is in its infancy. there is a lack of consistency between member nations, and nations are all inventing the wheel. and lessons from more advanced markets are not necessarily learned. so a lot needs to change in
What would it be? very close collaboration between governments, providers and parents so that the puzzle around how much regulation is needed to still be safe and decrease risk. but also how much regulation is actually acceptable in order to attract enough staff. if we solve this puzzle, then basically childcare is the connecting tissue in almost everything in society, that people can work, that children are taken care of, that the youngest generation has the best possible start. it all then would come together. so that is what is needed in many member states. on that point, jeanine lemmens, a real pleasure having you on the show. thanks for your time and i ll talk to you soon. it was my pleasure. you know, the hotel industry, it s one of the big beasts