At the new Sweet Pea Discovery Centre in Smith’s, there was only one toddler settling down for a nap.

He had the run of the nursery play kitchen — and his teacher.

All that will change next month when owner Elicia Hollis accepts more little ones into the fold.

The hope is to grow the location to 20 children split into two groups with two teachers for each.

Ms Hollis opened the nursery in the hall at St Mark’s Church in March as a sister location to Sweet Pea in Warwick.

Running a nursery with one child has had its challenges.

Like many small early‑years providers, Sweet Pea faces tight financial margins.

“You can only charge so much to parents, but you have to make sure that staff are paid what they deserve,” she said. “We have had to balance off things with our other site. Getting the word out there has been a challenge, especially since we haven’t got any signage up yet.”

Finding staff with the right certifications and specific training has also been difficult.

She explained that is because the Bermuda College stopped its early years programme for a period, reducing the number of newly qualified educators on the market. The sector is recycling staff with many applicants already working at other nurseries.

“Hiring can feel like robbing Peter to pay Paul,” Ms Hollis said.

She saw her 16 years of experience as a definite advantage.

“There are lots of things you have to put in place,” she said. “There are many things you have to go through in order to get your licence. If I was starting from scratch it would have been much more difficult.”

She opened the Warwick site after a career in hedge funds. “My son was my why,” she said.

The long hours in the corporate world made her feel like she was missing key moments of his childhood.

She took an early years certification programme at the Bermuda College and bought Sweet Pea Nursery when it came up for sale. At that time it was located in Paget.

Now she loves making a difference in a child’s life.

At Sweet Pea Discovery Centre she will be teaming up with some paediatric specialists to bring some services in that will help with different areas of child development.

“We are also adding some community partners who will come in and be involved with art, music and other things,” she said.

She emphasised that this is not a babysitting service.

“It is a nursery — an educational setting,” she said.

The nursery follows an outside classroom philosophy, encouraging outdoor play and exploration.

Sweet Pea Discovery Centre will take children from 18 months up to the age when they are turning four.

Ms Hollis is the only full‑time staff member at the Smith’s site, with two part‑timers; by September she expects to have four full‑time and one part‑time staff at the site.

• For more information, e-mail sweetpeadiscovery@gmail.com