The Music and Dance Academy in the UK

MAD Academy...
music & dance and a whole lot of fun!

The History of MAD Academy

The unique concept behind MAD Academy was first developed when Helen Harrington decided to pursue a different career path after having her first child. She had always had a passion for the arts, having played the piano and had voice training when growing up. By the time she went to University she had joined a band and performed at several London venues. At 21, Helen started her career in the IT industry developing a broad skills base in marketing, sales and training. In 1997 she joined the marketing team for BBC Worldwide and spent 5 years working on some of the most popular and well-loved brands in the world, including Noddy, Eastenders, Only Fools and Horses, The Fast Show and more. She managed sales and marketing teams for the UK division as well as managing children’s brands such as Tweenies and Teletubbies on a global basis.

However, soon after the birth of her first child, Helen felt ready to begin a new chapter in a her life. At the same time, whilst looking for a suitable class to take her son to, she identiﬁed an obvious gap in the market – there were limited opportunities to engage young children in dance as well as music, and this is when MAD Academy began!

She collaborated with experts in dance and child development to come up with the concept and after a year conducting market research, developing materials for classes and running trial classes, MAD Academy was launched in January 2004. Since then, it has grown rapidly - primarily by word of mouth – and has already established its reputation as a leading provider of music and movement classes for preschool children. It seems there were many more parents out there, besides Helen who were looking for just such a class!

Want to find out more about how Helen changed her career? Click here to read her story as featured in Eve, Britain's fastest growing women's magazine >>>more.

Interested in changing your career too? A MAD Academy franchise could be for you! Click here to find out more>>>