About Us

Explore & Develop was founded by Alan Grant, Jenny and Stephen Mays in 2004. The key objectives of the business was to work towards ensuring that privately owned childcare settings remains an important part of the Australian childcare industry.

Explore & Develop allows private owners to operate under the same banner and share resources and ideas. This creates economies of scale that allow us to offer high quality childcare settings that is unpressured by resource expenses.

To date, we boast an excellent management team who contribute to the values and philosophy of the business and an Operations Team that supports all operational and procedural aspects of the business. This management structure enables us to maintain high quality environments in relation to regulatory and legislative requirements across all centres.

Founder Profiles

Alan Grant

Alan brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to Explore & Develop. Alan previously held the position of CEO of KFC New Zealand. He later founded Lollipops Playlands group Australia & New Zealand and more recently co-founded Lollipops Educare in New Zealand. Alan combines his franchise, commercial leasing and previous childcare management experience to offer a superior skill set to the Explore & Develop business.

Jenny and Stephen Mays

Jenny and Stephen own two childcare centres in Sydney. They have managed and operated one centre in North Manly since July 2000 and established Explore & Develop, Frenchs Forest in 2004. Jenny brings over 15 years of experience in recruitment and training & development to the business. This background supports Jenny as she manages some of the most significant issues and challenges in childcare today, that of staff recruitment and retention.

Along with the above, Alan, Jenny and Stephen bring enormous enthusiasm, dedication and a strong desire to help develop and nurture young minds in a warm and caring childcare environment; something we believe can be best achieved through the Explore & Develop franchise model.