Liz McCarthy

Liz brings an unusually broad mix of senior leadership, operational management and early years experience to Paint Pots.

Before moving into the early years sector, Liz completed a 23-year career in the Royal Navy, leaving in 2008 as a Chief Caterer. Her extensive management experience led to an opportunity to manage Yellow Dot Nursery in Eastleigh, where she quickly completed her Level 3 childcare qualification alongside further training in safeguarding, child protection, child development, special educational needs, Makaton and food safety.

Liz managed the Eastleigh nursery for nine years. During that time, the setting achieved an Outstanding Ofsted judgement, which the team successfully retained at its subsequent inspection six years later.

In 2017, Liz became a Hub Manager for a group of Yellow Dot nurseries, mentoring, coaching and supporting nursery managers and their teams to develop consistent standards and share best practice. She later worked within an early years consultancy, providing advice, training and support to nurseries and pre-schools across the country.

Liz joined Launchpad Social Enterprise as Operations Manager in 2020, initially supporting three rural Hampshire pre-schools through the challenges of the pandemic. She developed policies, strengthened collaboration between setting managers and supported the nurseries through their Ofsted journeys. By 2022, two of the settings had achieved Outstanding judgements at their first inspections and the third had been rated Good.

Following Launchpad's acquisition of Paint Pots in 2022, Liz's role expanded across the wider group. Today, she helps oversee 13 nurseries and pre-schools across Southampton and Hampshire. She is also the group's named person with Ofsted and Designated Safeguarding Lead, giving her extensive practical experience in safeguarding, compliance, nursery operations and quality improvement. Paint Pots itself operates 13 early years settings across Southampton and Hampshire.

Areas of expertise:
Safeguarding | Nursery operations | Ofsted preparation | Early years leadership | Quality improvement | Child protection | Nursery management | Staff mentoring and development