John Woodward is CEO and one of the founding members of Busy Bees, which operates 250 nurseries in Britain. Busy Bees opened its first nursery, the Rocklands, in 1984, and now employs 9,000 people. Woodward began his career in 1976 as a teacher, but when Busy Bees decided to expand, he moved into the nursery business full time. Busy Bees acquired 60 nurseries in Singapore and Malaysia in early 2015 as the first step of its international expansion. Woodward also serves as chairman of Smallsteps, an H.I.G. Capital-backed group of 250 nurseries in the Netherlands.