“Classes are designed to create friendships through music and dance”

Singing along to songs and moving to the music make young people happy.

Socialising and creating a sense of community is key to Little Movers Warrington – classes for children aged from birth up to eight.

Here, in our latest Business of the Week feature, franchisee Sarah Horton tells us about her classes – how she became a franchisee, what the her first sessions were like and what 2025 holds for her new happy hub.

If you would like your business to feature as Business or Trader of the Week, email heidi.summerfield@newsquest.co.uk

Little Movers Warrington owner Sarah Horton

What’s the name of the business?

Little Movers Warrington

What’s the address?

The Little Movers Happy Hub,

Evans House,

Norman Street,

Warrington,

WA2 7HW

Are you the owner/manager?

I’m the owner

When did you open the business?

I started the business in December 2020

Has it always been in the same location?

No. Previously I have held my classes in the community across Warrington in community centres and church halls. In September this year, I opened up the Little Movers Happy Hub. The first Little Movers Hub in the country to hold all my classes, parties and events and for the community to use as well.

Are you local to the area? Did you grow up here?

I sure did. I’m Orford born and bred!

Little Movers Happy Hub

Tell me a bit about your business

Little Movers Warrington is a dance and movement class suitable from birth up to eight years old. Our classes are a mixture of dance, movement games and lots of fun to help babies and children with their physical development. We have different themes each week, so no two weeks are the same and we aim to create a little community in our classes and encourage socialisation (with the adults too) to help everyone make friends and become part of a dancing family.

READ MORE:

Newton-le-Willows dance classes boost confidence, creativity and mental health

What do you do? What services do you provide?

We have a variety of classes and activities spread throughout the week and year:

Baby Movers: Birth to crawling

Little Movers: Walking to preschool

Moving on up: Reception to eight years old

Nursery and school PE sessions

Birthday parties every Saturday: Held at the Happy Hub or in the community

Intergenerational sessions: Bringing together local care home and nurseries

Holiday clubs: During school half terms for reception to eight years

Pop up events: Including Christmas and Halloween parties and many more

Collaboration: Working together with other local activity providers for new events and classes.

There’s plenty to keep me occupied!

Why did you decide to open your own business?

After losing my job during maternity leave due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I was eager to find something that was fun and exciting and that I would love but that would also work around my two children. That’s when I found Little Movers. A franchise, primarily in the north east of England, I was the first Little Movers franchisee out of that area. Owning a franchise has given me the freedom to work for myself yet with the support of a business behind me. It works perfectly! I LOVE my job and the community and friendships I have built with it. It fits around my life with my family and gives me so much job satisfaction. You can’t dance around all day with toddlers and babies and not be happy!

What’s your business background?

I have worked with children since the age of 16 in nurseries and children’s hospitals and completed a BA Honours degree in childhood studies at Leeds University, and while I had no experience of running my own business, it’s something I have learnt along the way and grown to love. Running your own business is challenging but so worth it!

Why this type of business?

I love working with children - they make my life happy – and I also love dance. I have been a Morris dancer for 30 years - and my mum before me and now my daughter - so it’s in my blood. Little Movers incorporated both of these things to create a job that encapsulates everything I love doing.

Were you open before/during/after the Covid-19 pandemic? How did this affect your business?

I bought my franchisee in 2020 just before the lockdown of 2021 hit. I was devastated not to be opening when I should have been in February 2021, however, the response that I got from families looking for new classes and something exciting after such a horrible few months was unreal. I sold out 10 classes per week for our first term, before we’d even opened. Two hundred families joined me on my first week of opening. It was an incredible experience. Many of them families are still with me today with either their second and third child or taking part in the special events or holiday clubs.

Classes are for children aged from birth up to eight

What makes your business different to others in the same area/field? What sets your business apart from your competitors?

There are many fabulous children’s classes in Warrington and we are all different in our own special way. I do however think the community we build in our classes makes them special. We love to dance and keep fit and have fun buts that’s really only half of it. Our classes are designed to create friendships and bonds with both children and adults and to work within our community.

We have recently started our kindness jars. Each child puts 1p-10p in each week in class and when the jar is full, we nominate a family to use that small change to help someone or put a smile on someone’s face with a chocolate bar or a bunch of flowers. We discuss with the children how such a small act of kindness can mean something big to someone else. It’s things like this that really set us apart from others. We’re not just a class, we’re a community.

READ MORE:

“My mission is to inspire a love of music from the earliest years that lasts a lifetime”

Why do loyal customers return to your business?

Again, I think it’s that sense of community that being a party of Little Movers entails. Our classes are booked by term, and we all get to know each other throughout that term. The children make friends, the parents make friends. I have parents who joined my class as strangers three years ago still going out for coffee each week and attending each other’s birthday parties. The classes are lots of fun and really do help the mental and physical health of anyone who attends but the community is what we thrive on.

What’s next? What do the next few months hold for you and your business?

Little Movers Warrington is forever growing. Our new Happy Hub will be hosting a whole array of new events and parties and is open to hire for other community providers. We are also expanding our school, nursery and intergenerational sessions across Warrington from the new year with more sessions opening up throughout the week.