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A Toronto-based day-care chain serving corporate clients is expanding to London.

Kids & Co. is setting up a new centre at Mount St. Joseph, the former convent and private girls' school on Richmond Street North recently sold by the Sisters of St. Joseph.

Renovations have begun for the 9,000-square-foot child-care centre in the north wing of the building. Another part of the building is being redone to create 100 upscale retirement suites.

The child-care centre is scheduled to open in June and will employ about 25 early childhood education teachers. The centre will provide a secure webcam site to allow parents to check on their children through the day.

Kids & Co. chief executive Victoria Sopik said the company scouted locations in downtown London, but couldn't find one with suitable outdoor play space.

Kids & Co. cares for about 1,000 children at seven sites in Toronto, including large office towers such as the TD Centre and Commerce Court. It also has operations in Calgary, Ottawa and Waterloo.

Sopik knows a lot about child care from personal experience.

She and her husband, Jeffrey, are raising eight kids, ages eight to 19. One of her sons attends the University of Western Ontario.

"I've always been a working mom, so I've always known what parents wanted to have," said Sopik, who studied business administration at Western.

Sopik said Kids & Co. works on contract with about 200 corporations, supplying a specified number of spots for children of employees.

The parents usually pay for the child care, but the contracts often provide for emergency backup care for employees who unexpectedly find themselves without child care.

"If you're a busy working parent, your child care can fall through because of something as simple as a snow day at school," said Sopik.

She said companies have found that the emergency care can keep parents on the job and help them balance their work and family life.

Sopik said national corporations with employees in London will use the service, but her