Growing nursery group buys 10th site
Monday, January 15, 2018
ICP Nurseries has acquired its tenth nursery in east London.
Montessori on the Park is based in a converted church on the edge of Victoria Park and provides 76 childcare places.
The rapidly expanding group has settings in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire and London and has a total capacity of 852 places.
In February last year, ICP Nurseries was awarded £8m in funding from OakNorth Bank - which provides business loans for entrepreneurs - to fund expansion for 20 to 25 sites.
The group was set up in 2016 by Tracey Storey, who has previously been a director at Leapfrog Day Nurseries and Happy Child. She co-owns the group with private equity firm Innervation Capital Partners.
On its website, ICP says its strategy is to grow in Greater London, the South East and the Home Counties. ‘The plan is to grow a group not a chain – retaining the individuality and uniqueness of each setting within their local community is key.’
ICP’s other sites are Little Muffins in Chiswick, The Old Barn in Banstead, Childcare4U Marlow and Beaconsfield, Little Monkeys in central Windsor, and Windsor Park, St Ives in Huntingdon, Friends Forest Nursery – Ash, and Friends Forest Nursery – Shere.
Asked about plans for the new nursery, Ms Storey told Nursery World, ‘We do offer the 30 hours already – we will be taking our time to review the current nursery offering before deciding next steps.’
Ms Storey also confirmed that more deals were in the pipeline for the group.
Broker Christie & Co said that Montessori on the Park had a healthy annual fee income, and exceptional fixtures and fittings.
Sophie Willcox, childcare business agent at Christie & Co who brokered the sale, said, ‘Montessori on the Park is an exceptional nursery and a perfect fit for the expanding ICP Nursery Group. The vendor contacted Christie & Co looking for a speedy confidential sales process, after introducing ICP we were able to achieve exactly what the owner was looking for.’
