We’ve done it again! Five years and five stars for franchisee satisfaction!
Wow, we’ve done it again, and we couldn’t be prouder of the team. This year, Little City has once again received the 5-star Franchisee Satisfaction award from the Best Franchise Awards programme.
This award feels extra special. Not just because it’s the fifth time in a row we’ve won it, but because the recognition comes from feedback from the people who know what it’s really like to be part of Little City - our branch owners.
Asking people in your business to tell you exactly what they think is always a little nerve-wracking. There’s nowhere to hide, and that’s precisely why we keep doing it. We love listening to and acting on feedback from our branch owners, and we’re always trying new things based on their experiences.
For example, last year Little City Chelmsford hosted the first-ever Little City session within a custodial setting when we visited HMP Chelmsford. And earlier this year, Little City South West Yorkshire linked up with Barnsley Library. These are brilliant examples of what can happen when our branch owners spot new opportunities and have the confidence to try something different. We want to do everything we can to support our branches to be as successful as possible.
Why we’re so proud to achieve five stars for the fifth time
The independent 5 Star Franchisee Satisfaction programme looks at what really matters in a franchise, including training and support, the franchise system, culture and relationships, leadership, and overall satisfaction.
Achieving five stars once is something to celebrate. Achieving it five years in a row feels pretty incredible.
Maintaining that recognition for five years feels significant because it comes at a really exciting time for us.
Five years of growth for Little City
Did you know that Little City began in 2017 from Vicki’s kitchen table?
In 2020, Little City had just 10 branches, and six years later, that number is just under 40.
The last 12 months have been busier than ever, with milestones we never even dreamt of, let alone thought would become reality.
- We opened our first Scottish branch, taking Little City into a new part of the UK, with new branches in Wales and Ireland also due to open.
- We also opened our first-ever permanent Little City location. Little City Southend now has a permanent home at Scott’s of Southend Garden Centre. This marked an exciting new chapter alongside our established franchise model.
- Our work with schools has continued to grow. Between January and August 2026, we completed 560 school visits, up more than 20% from the same period in 2025.
- Alongside this, we've built commercial partnerships with brands including Grow with Iris, Crinkly Cloth, and P&O Cruises, which have helped to bring the Little City brand to more audiences than ever before.
Growing a business relies on the support of the team
Growing a business is one achievement.
Growing it without losing sight of the people who make that growth possible is another.
Little City looks very different today from the business that opened its first franchise opportunities.
But our ambition hasn’t changed. We want to champion the positive impact of imaginative play for preschool children, continue growing our franchise network and create exciting new partnerships and opportunities.
It’s particularly exciting that the strength of our network means some of the UK’s biggest children’s brands are now coming directly to us to explore opportunities to work together.
But none of this would be possible without our branch owners' commitment and dedication.
Their hard work brings every Little City session to life. They’re building relationships within their own communities, finding new opportunities, sharing advice, supporting one another and continually finding ways to make Little City even better.
We're incredibly proud of them.
So, we’re really going to celebrate this award. But most of all, we are going to celebrate the incredible people who have helped us get to where we are.
To every one of our branch owners, thank you. We genuinely couldn’t do it without you.
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