Kirsty Byrom is Legal Director for Europe and the UK at Busy Bees, one of the world’s largest childcare and early years education providers. She leads legal support across Europe and the United Kingdom, while also contributing to strategic projects and international operations across North America, Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Kirsty began her career in private practice as a commercial litigator before moving in house more than a decade ago. Drawn by the opportunity to work alongside businesses at the point decisions are made, she has built a career spanning senior legal roles at Halfords, Gymshark and, most recently, Busy Bees. She is recognised for combining strong technical legal expertise with commercial judgement, pragmatism and an ability to navigate complex and high-profile issues. Since joining Busy Bees, Kirsty has established herself as a strategic and commercially focused legal leader, helping guide the organisation through a period of significant and increasingly complex regulatory, operational and reputational challenge. Her remit spans safeguarding, governance, commercial contracting, dispute resolution, regulatory engagement, M&A, brand protection and risk management. Her leadership has also supported the development of stronger governance, compliance and risk management frameworks across the organisation and internationally. Most recently, Kirsty has led Busy Bees’ response to the Competition and Markets Authority’s market study into early years education and childcare in England. Acting as project lead, she has coordinated the organisation’s legal and strategic response across executive leadership, finance, operations, marketing and M&A teams, while managing relationships with external advisers and investors. The project requires the careful management of significant regulatory, financial, commercial and reputational risks, while helping shape outcomes for Busy Bees, the wider early years sector and, most importantly, the families it serves. Alongside her advisory work, Kirsty has focused on demonstrating the value a modern in house legal function can deliver. Working closely with the Group GC, she has strengthened legal reporting and value tracking, enhanced external adviser management, modernised contracting processes and embedded stronger policy, escalation and decision-making frameworks across the business. Her work has substantially increased the volume of work delivered in-house, while providing greater visibility of legal risk, activity, spend and outcomes. Beyond her professional responsibilities, Kirsty is passionate about improving outcomes for children through education, safeguarding and strong governance. She serves as Vice Chair of Governors and Safeguarding Lead Governor for two local schools, providing strategic oversight and challenge on matters affecting children, families and the wider school community. Her connection to the sector is also personal: Kirsty attended a Busy Bees nursery as a child and has often reflected on the role high-quality early years education can play in confidence, development and life opportunities. Known for her commercial mindset, collaborative leadership style and ability to translate complex legal issues into practical business decisions, Kirsty is a strong advocate for continuing professional development at every stage of a career. She believes the most effective legal teams create value not only through influence, curiosity and sound judgement, but also through a genuine commitment to understanding and improving the organisations they support, alongside a desire to keep learning and improving themselves.

Team size: Three

What are the key projects you have been involved in over the past twelve months?

The past twelve months have been a defining period for the childcare and early years education sector, with providers facing increased external scrutiny, responding to high-profile safeguarding incidents and cyber-attacks, and navigating significant political and regulatory change. Against that backdrop, my role has primarily focused on three key areas.

Firstly, helping the business navigate regulatory complexity, strengthening governance and ensuring that, in an increasingly evolving environment, we not only do the right thing but can evidence it. Working as legal lead alongside colleagues across safety and safeguarding, operations and people functions, together with the wider leadership team, I have supported enhancements to incident management and investigations, triaging and escalation processes and decision-making, introducing practical and usable frameworks and reporting mechanisms designed to support consistent, evidence-based outcomes.

I am also leading the legal and strategic response to the Competition and Markets Authority’s market study into the childcare sector. As the largest childcare provider in the UK, we see the study as an important opportunity to contribute constructively to discussions around future policy and market dynamics, helping improve outcomes for families whilst supporting a sustainable sector. My role has included coordinating cross-functional workstreams, managing external counsel, supporting engagement with regulators and policymakers, and helping shape the organisation’s response to issues at the heart of how families access childcare. It has been a strong example of how in-house lawyers can help organisations both respond to and influence significant change.

Finally, I continue to position Legal as a strategic business partner rather than simply a risk management function. Over the last year, we have continued to develop our approach to legal value tracking, management information and external adviser performance monitoring, providing greater visibility of legal activity, risk, spend and outcomes. This has helped demonstrate the contribution the legal function can make to enabling sustainable growth, maintaining stakeholder trust and supporting Busy Bees’ mission of giving every child the best start in life.

What are the most important attributes of the modern in-house counsel and what advice would you give to those aspiring to be an in-house lawyer?

The most effective in-house lawyers combine legal expertise with commercial judgement, curiosity and influence. Technical excellence remains essential, but real value comes from understanding the business, enabling good decision-making and helping organisations achieve their objectives safely and responsibly.

One of the most important qualities throughout my own career has been an eagerness to step beyond traditional legal boundaries and get to the crux of an issue. Early in my career as a commercial litigator, I undertook secondments with in-house legal teams and became fascinated by the opportunity to be closer to business decision-making. That experience shaped my move in-house and reinforced my belief that lawyers create the greatest value when they are embedded within the business and involved in shaping outcomes.

My advice is simple: learn the business as well as you learn the law. Build relationships, understand stakeholder priorities and focus on solving problems rather than identifying them. The most successful in-house lawyers become trusted advisers because they bring clarity, practicality and judgement, not simply legal opinions.

Have you had any particularly unique or defining experiences during your legal career?

Several experiences have shaped my approach to leadership and the way I practise law. Looking back, one of the common themes has been the influence of exceptional mentors who helped shape not only my legal skills, but also my commercial judgement and leadership style.

At the outset of my career as a commercial litigator, I worked alongside a lawyer who set exceptionally high standards and instilled the importance of preparation, resilience and professional judgement. Importantly, he was not afraid to push me out of my comfort zone, giving me opportunities to take the lead with clients, senior stakeholders and, sometimes rather dauntingly, in court. That grounding has stayed with me throughout my career.

A defining milestone came during my time at Halfords, where I joined as junior counsel and progressed to become the company’s first head of commercial law. One of the most significant influences was working closely with a highly commercial procurement leader whose approach to stakeholder management, negotiation and decision-making fundamentally shaped my understanding of commerciality. She helped me appreciate that successful lawyers must understand operational realities and commercial drivers, as well as legal risk.

My current role at Busy Bees has brought these lessons together. I am fortunate to work alongside an exceptional GC and a wider leadership team that is deeply committed not only to giving every child the best start in life, but also to investing in and developing its people. Working in such a purpose-driven environment has reinforced my belief that legal teams deliver their greatest impact through collaboration, trust and shared purpose.

Beyond your legal role, is there a cause or initiative you are especially passionate about?

I am passionate about improving outcomes for children through education, safeguarding and strong governance.

My connection to the sector is also personal. I attended a Busy Bees nursery as a child and therefore experienced first-hand the impact that high-quality early years education can have on confidence, development and life opportunities. In many ways, I am a product of the very system I now help support and protect.

Outside my day-to-day role, I serve as Vice Chair of Governors for Catshill Federation and as the Federation’s Safeguarding Lead Governor. Working alongside school leaders and fellow governors, I help provide strategic oversight and constructive challenge on matters affecting children, families and the wider school community.

My voluntary work complements my professional responsibilities and reinforces my belief that effective governance, strong safeguarding cultures and clear accountability are fundamental to helping children thrive. Whether advising a business, strengthening governance frameworks or supporting schools, my motivation remains the same: helping organisations create positive outcomes and opportunities for children.