Provision
Nursery chain buys failed setting for £1m and saves staff jobs
A luxury Edinburgh nursery that was ordered to liquidate after amassing huge debts has found a buyer, safeguarding the jobs of 15 staff.
Prime Time Nursery, which was founded in 2002 by ex-fund manager Monica Langa, aimed to attract Edinburgh's most affluent parents by offering facilities such as a business suite equipped with a telephone, internet access and fax facilities so that parents could continue working while waiting to collect their children.
But in October 2009 the city's Court of Session ordered the business into liquidation, with reports suggesting that the nursery had racked up debts of £700,000.
Last Tuesday (25 May) it was announced that Silver Strawberry, a company owned by a husband and wife team which operates four nurseries and two after-school facilities in Glasgow under the Small World name, had purchased the business and assets of Prime Time Nursery for more than £1m.
Mr Depak Bali, the new owner, said, 'We have been working very hard to improve the building and we're delighted with the early feedback from the Care Commission in the last few weeks. The staff are fantastic and have worked very hard in the last few months. We're very pleased that they are on on board and want to make Silver Strawberry a real success, offering a caring, secure and stimulating environment for the children.'
Prior to the purchase, Matt Henderson of Johnston Carmichael, the court appointed liquidator, requested a court sanction to keep the Queen Street nursery open and operated it under license for seven months. He said, 'Obtaining a special sanction from the court to run the businesses was risky but we were confident that this business could be very successful under the right management.'
