The new owner of Queenstown’s Kip McGrath franchise is committed to expanding the out-of-school education centre even further.
Latterly centre director, Lucy Geraghty’s now bought the business from long-time owner Emma Wilson.
Based at Remarkables Park, with about 19 qualified tutors, Kip McGrath mostly provides tailored, small-group English and maths tuition to five-to-18-year-olds.
However, its other arm, The Academy, also provides a wide range of tuition to gifted primary school kids.
A qualified teacher from the United Kingdom, Geraghty came onboard as a tutor in 2017, but before long was managing the centre, alongside Wilson.
She left last summer to gain business development experience with Regional Business Partners, which delivered government funding to Covid-affected businesses.
However, she rejoined Kip McGrath in May, as centre director, after Wilson had to step back for personal reasons — and then accepted the latter’s invitation to buy the business.
In her time with the centre, Geraghty’s seen it grow from about 110 students to 250-plus, and occasionally even 300 — growth which recently saw it win a top Australasian franchise award.
She believes some growth’s arisen from students studying at home, due to Covid restrictions.
‘‘That really opened up a lot of parents’ eyes to what was actually happening with their children’s learning.’’
Geraghty intends implementing ‘‘a very exciting expansion plan’’ next year to meet demand.
She’s also delighted her centre offers scholarships, via Whakatipu Youth Trust and local schools, to ‘‘certain children who maybe don’t have the financial ability to join in’’.
