Nursery profits 'are hyped to investors'

The nursery sector is in danger of being over-hyped to potential investors in the City who may have unrealistic expectations of the profits they can make, according to an analysis of the sector by healthcare consultancy Laing and Buisson. The report, Children's Nurseries - UK Market Sector Report 2002, published last week, warns that the sector is still in its 'honeymoon phase' with investors, just as the care home sector was in the late 1980s. However, with care homes, there was a 'fundamental mismatch between reality and expectations' and it turned out that groups could only grow by going back...