UKB International locks up nursery contract

NURSERIES across the UK will be more secure after a national chain signed a £500,000 deal with a leading North East security company.

UK Biometrics Ltd is to supply and install the system across the Busy Bees chain after a year-long trial at 14 nurseries. The Newcastle-based company’s Fingerprint Entry programme is a biometric door lock, which opens for staff, parents and carers whose prints are registered. Unregistered visitors have to be admitted by a member of staff.

The system scans the user’s print, identifying key points and the finger’s sub-dermal ridges which make it theoretically impossible for someone not on the database to gain entry. Users’ encrypted data is held by each individual nursery. Carole Chadderton, Busy Bees regional director, said: “Security for the children and staff is a prime concern. We have worked closely with UK Biometrics and their access system will enable us to maintain high security standards throughout our nurseries.”

Busy Bees has been running for 25 years and UK Biometrics said the company’s decision to adopt the system showed that security was high on the nursery chain’s agenda.

UK Biometrics operations director Shaun Oakes said: “Biometrics provides the only key which cannot be lost, stolen, forged or hacked – the human fingerprint.”

UK Biometrics, which has sales offices in Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, North West and South West London, Swindon, Thames Valley, Swansea and Bournemouth, in addition to its Newcastle headquarters, announced in April its was creating 15 jobs.