Co-operative Childcare adds 600 more places in nursery buyout

The group has acquired the Places for Children nursery chain of eight settings based in London and Newcastle upon Tyne, and the Banana Moon Nurseries that operate from two settings in Leamington Spa.

The new combined group will operate a total of 40 nurseries, offering more than 2,700 places, making it the ninth-largest operator in the UK and Ireland.

The group was previously ranked at number 13 in Nursery World's Nursery Chains league table last October, with 2,030 places.

Places for Children has five settings in London - Hackney, Hounslow, Islington, Charlton and Woolwich - one nursery in Watford, Hertfordshire, and two settings in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Four out of the eight nurseries are based in children’s centres.

Banana Moon Day Nurseries,  (pictured), a group of two settings rated good by Ofsted, opened in 2006 and provide care from three months to five-years-old. The nurseries also support children with special educational needs, disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language.

All staff will continue to work at the nurseries, which will be re-branded with The Co-operative Childcare logo.

A rolling refurbishment programme will be carried out over the next six to 12 months, with nurseries most at need taking priority.

Co-operative Childcare’s group childcare manager Mike Abbott, said, ‘We are keen on acquiring nurseries locally and plan to have a total of 50 settings by the end of next month.

‘However, we want to ensure we offer quality care which is why we have created a new post, head of quality and early years education.

‘All the new nurseries will run according to co-operative values of trust, honesty and openness and will have strong connections with the local community.’

The Midcounties-Co-operative, who own and operate Co-operative Childcare, was recently named as one of the 25 best big companies to work for by The Sunday Times, coming in 24th place.