BUBBADESK: A NEW CONCEPT FOR WORKING PARENTS

Working WONDERS

Meet Lauren Perrett, founder of Erina-based BubbaDesk – one of the country’s first co-working hubs that incorporates on-site childcare.

Like all brilliant concepts, you wonder why it wasn’t thought up years ago. When Lauren Perrett moved from the city to the Central Coast in 2021, pregnant with her and husband Tom’s first baby and working in a full-time corporate role, she was “blissfully ignorant” about future childcare and work arrangements. “I just assumed I’d swan back into my job and some amazing person would come along and take over,” she says with a wry laugh. “No-one else in my team had children, so looking for childcare was a steep learning curve.” Lauren wasn’t keen to leave baby Charles in day care until he was at least “old enough to tell me about his day”, employing a nanny was prohibitively expensive and the nanny she did find didn’t work out. “I jokingly suggested to my mother’s group that we should all hire an office to work remotely and share a nanny, then pitched the idea to Tom. Being a risk-averse banker he wasn’t overly enthusiastic but three months later, BubbaDesk was operating in Erina and Tom is now our chief financial officer.” As a working parent herself, Lauren understands the need for this service. Up to 24 people use the Erina centre each day; all the nannies are fully certified and there’s a carer-to-child ratio of one to four, for children aged from four months to four years. Two more BubbaDesks are due to launch in 2023, one in Tuggerah and one on the Northern Beaches. “There’s a strong community aspect to the set-up,” says Lauren, “and it’s a great way to move from fulltime parenting to being a working parent again. Your child is right next door so you can pop in and see him or her any time, there’s a private breastfeeding area and plenty of parking so there’s no last-minute panic about collecting your child after work.” If there’s a silver lining to the covid pandemic, it’s that many companies are now more familiar with remote working, whether part-time or in a hybrid remote and in-office combination. Lauren is already fielding enquiries about setting up more BubbaDesks around Australia and welcomes the community involvement. For information about fees, tax rebates, operating hours, open days and any other questions, email hello@bubbadesk.com or see bubbadesk.com