The Old Station buys Kent group in latest deal
Catherine Gaunt
Tuesday, March 30, 2021
The Old Station Nursery group has acquired a group of three nurseries in Kent, adding to a recent run of acquisitions.
Choochoos Day Nurseries, previously owned by Karla and Dominic Tabony, opened its first nursery in Whitstable in 2005, later opening settings in Canterbury in 2010 and Dover in 2013.
Located in the heart of their respective communities within Kent, Old Station said each of the Choochoos Day Nurseries has a well-established and creditable reputation for providing support to families and quality care to their children. According to the Old Station Nursery group, the Choochoos nursery in Canterbury is the oldest nursery in Kent, having opened in 1960.
Commenting, Sarah Steel, managing director of the Old Station Nursery Group, said, ‘We are really excited to welcome Choochoos Day Nurseries into the Old Station Nursery Group. We are really looking forward to meeting all of the children, parents and staff members at each of the three nurseries and welcoming them into our nursery family.’
She added, ‘We are always looking for new ways to innovate the children’s learning and provide the best possible service to all of our families; so we are very excited to work with the teams at Choochoos, to learn from them, review best practice and share our group ethos.’
Karla Tabony said, ‘The Old Station Nursery Group shares the same ethos and beliefs for children in childcare as my own. I am confident that Choochoos Day Nurseries will thrive under their ownership continuing to deliver outstanding care and education that our parents and carers have grown used to and expect.’
Established in 2002 by Sarah Steel remains managing director after the company was bought by La Maison Bleue, in 2019. Founded in 2004 by Sylvain Forestier and Antonia Ryckbosch, a childcare professional, La Maison Bleue is the leading childcare provider in Switzerland and the third largest provider in both France and Luxembourg.
Old Station said it has ambitions to expand further and support more families in the near future.
The group has grown considerably since it became part of La Maison Bleue. Prior to the latest acquisition, the Old Station bought Bambinos Day Nurseries in Northamptonshire in February, and last year bought the 11 settings in the Sunhill Day Nurseries group.
It now has nurseries throughout England in Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Gloucestershire, Berkshire, London, West Midlands, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Suffolk and Essex.
The latest deal will take the number of registered childcare places to 2,385.
It is listed as the 19th largest nursery group in the UK in Nursery World’s Spring 2021 issue of Nursery Chains, with 32 nurseries and one out-of-school club, offering 2,119 nursery places.
The Old Station has said it plans several more acquisitions and organic growth during 2021.
