Treetops Nurseries, which has 20 settings, mainly based in the Midlands,has acquired its first London setting with the purchase.
Managing director David Hancock told Nursery World that the move was thegroup's 'first tentative' step into the capital.
He said that while Treetops' long-term goal was to expand to 40nurseries, 'our view in terms of expansion is to be rather choosy aboutwhere we go. There are factors about how we can bolt it on to Treetops.If we were to buy a smaller group, that might be easier than expandingone nursery at a time.'
The 170-place Fulham nursery is spread over three floors and has 'astate-of-the-art kitchen that Gordon Ramsay would be proud of', said MrHancock, and a hi-tech lighting system that reacts to sunlight.
Treetops is spending money on refurbishing and redecorating the nurseryand on developing the outdoor space, he said. The nursery is holdingopen days for parents and has already had a good response.
'Some parents who used the nursery before are coming back. We've had anextraordinary number of people contacting us,' said Mr Hancock.
Some of the nursery staff previously employed by Happy Times have beenhired by Treetops.
Last December the sudden closure of the Happy Times nurseries inBattersea and Fulham left 70 staff without jobs and 287 children withoutdaycare.
Happy Times' group grew to have four settings with more than 550childcare places. It also had a Hammersmith branch, which closed down,and a nursery in Richmond that was sold last May.
Newspaper reports last year suggested that the chain had debts of 7,600,000 in 2006 and that a loan of 900,000 was taken out inMarch 2007.
