About

Dane Hardie

25 years across early years, children's services, SaaS and PE-backed operations.

Black and white portrait of a middle-aged man with short, styled hair and a slight smile.

The career has covered every angle: running multi-site nursery groups at scale (100+ settings, P&Ls above £90m), building the technology platforms operators use, and advising investors on the operational reality behind the numbers.

Advisory in this sector tends to come from one direction. The value of having operated, invested, built technology and worked with regulators is that each perspective informs the others in ways that change what you notice and what you recommend. The operational insight shapes the investment view. The technology experience shapes the operational advice.

Co-owner of an Ofsted Outstanding nursery for over 20 years. Chair of Finance, Governance and Safeguarding at a SEND charity. Speaker and writer on funded hour economics, cost per place, and the relationship between operational practice and financial performance in early years.

A black background with two vertical, parallel white lines and two orange brackets on either side. 
Why Litus

Litus is Latin for shore. The boundary where one element meets another.

Operators meeting capital. Regulation meeting commercial reality. Strategy meeting the reception room floor.

The consultancy exists because this sector benefits from advisors who have operated at scale and can bring that experience to bear on the questions that investors, boards and management teams are trying to answer.