Adam Shaw

Managing Director

Elizabeth Cullen
Childcare Director
Elizabeth has worked in the childcare sector from the age of 18. Having qualified from a two-year course with the National Nursery Examination and Board (NNEB), she continued her studies for a further two years to qualify as an infant school teacher.

Following a two year teaching post at a privately run school, Elizabeth moved into a management position in the day nursery sector, which led to her involvement with the initial setting up of day care centres around London. It was at this time, with the imminent birth of her first child, that along with Adam Shaw she launched Happy Times in 1997.

Russell Thornhill BA (Hons), ACA
Non Executive
Russell qualified as a chartered accountant in 1987 with Binder Hamlyn, working there for nine years in total, progressing to Group Audit Manager. After a year spent as an accountant with Madame Tussauds, he spent four years as the financial controller and then the finance director of Theo Fennell PLC, an AIM listed designer, manufacturer and retailer of fine jewellery. Prior to joining Happy Times, Russell spent six months with Bonhams and Brooks, the international auctioneers.

Russell has now spent nearly four years with Happy Times and is responsible for all accounting, information technology and legal matters.

Duanne Thomas
Head of Childcare
I believe the delivery of good childcare practices is essentially not a nine to five job, it’s a way of life. It requires passion, understanding, team work and a great deal of motivation with each and every day presenting new and exciting challenges. You need to be able to support children’s development and well-being, and to work in partnership with our children’s parents. These abilities in turn result in an overwhelming sense of achievement. I prefer not to think of ourselves simply as ‘child carers’ but part of an extended, educated, developing and happy family.

I was first attracted to the Childcare field in 1994 following a six week placement at St Mary’s hospital working with young amputees, and while studying a BTEC National in Health and Science at Richmond upon Thames College. After completing the course I plunged into a number of childcare courses, absolutely mesmerised by children’s abilities to develop concepts, and their ability to build upon their own life experiences, interests and skills. From these early days onwards, I have never looked back.

Like most qualified Early Years practitioners I started off as a Nursery assistant, washing paint pots, collecting snack trays and changing nappies. I honestly thought this was as good as it got, until I joined the Happy Times team as a Deputy Manager in 2002.

Now as Happy Times’ Head of Childcare, my responsibilities are to ensure that we as a group achieve (and in as many areas as possible that we exceed) great childcare practices, to implement and maintain quality monitoring systems, and to provide a warm, welcoming, and educational environment for our children to thrive, experiment and grow.
I believe this is only achieved through quality recruitment practices, offering our team support, guidance, motivation, development and being able to share our knowledge and expertise throughout the group.

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