Editor's View

In this issue of Nursery Chains we're publishing our first ever league table of the 20 largest groups. Between them, these chains provide around 33,000 childcare places, representing a huge slice of the childcare market. According to the Daycare Trust, last year day nurseries in England provided 264,200 places, of which 17,200 were in local authority provision. Our league table, which includes places across the UK and Ireland, suggests that the 'top 20' chains offer nearly twice as many places as local authority nurseries, and provide about a tenth of all private nursery places. They are undoubtedly a force to...