Kids 1st gets go-ahead for eighth northern setting

The £1.4m purpose-built setting in Newcastle will be operated by Kids 1st Day Nurseries, which was named Nursery Chain of the Year at last year's Nursery World Awards (News, 29 September 2009).

The family-run business opened its first nursery in 2004 and currently has seven settings across the north-east. The new setting is scheduled to open in early September with 108 places for children aged from three months to five years. Kids 1st expects it to employ around 25 staff.

Mark McArdle, managing director of Kids 1st, said, 'It has been over two years since Kids 1st in Darlington opened, so we are really looking forward to building a new nursery. We have always planned to build a nursery in Newcastle but we have been waiting to find the right location. This is a really exciting development for Kids 1st and a great way to celebrate our sixth year in business.'

Allison Winship, head of childcare, added, 'Our other settings are doing very well, despite the recession, and we are still getting lots of babies in, whereas I know that some providers have noticed a drop in demand for the baby room.

'We have got two nurseries nearby that are very popular. A lot of our parents travel to our existing settings from the area where our new nursery will be so we knew there was that demand there. We hope to roll out the success we have in our other nurseries. We're proud to be in Newcastle and we're really looking forward to opening our setting there and giving parents more choice.'