Market Round-Up - Property forecast

MARK’S MARKET MAGIC

For all providers: From 2 April, the National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage have gone up. If you forget to comply, you can be fined and named and shamed. Also, remember that statutory maternity, adoption, paternity and share parental pay have been increased too. Don’t get caught out.

Avoid: Asbestos. Remember that you have an obligation to make sure your property doesn’t contain this lethal mineral. If your setting was built before November 1999, when asbestos was formally banned, get it checked by a professional. If it is present, you need to make sure you either get it removed safely or put the appropriate plan in place to manage it.

 Provider profile: After Busy Bees’ acquisition of Treetops in March, we take a look at the UK’s biggest provider. Busy Bees was established in 1983 by teachers John Woodward and Marg Randles. It was acquired in 2013 by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan – an organisation that manages the pensions of more than 300,000 teachers in Canada. It was rumoured that the purchase price back in 2013 was over £220m, when it operated just 213 settings.

Data derived from Experian Corpfin reportable transactions in the children’s daycare sector for March 2016 to 2017. Holds detailed information on deals over £500,000 (or the currency equivalent). Created using information from sources including direct reporting and the press.