Nursery investors seek chemistry

In business as in romance, the right 'chemistry' is all-important when a venture capitalist and a nursery provider get together, according to a presentation delivered to the Laing and Buisson childcare conference last week (see above). Paul Canning, an investment manager for Gresham Trust, which put £50m into backing the Busy Bees group in February 2000, said, 'There's nothing mysterious about the way we assess a business opportunity. The right chemistry is all-important - you have to be willing to let us in to your business. We see our investment as the start of a long-term partnership: we need openness,...