Previous owners Carl and Ruth West established Playdays in Blackrod, Bolton, in 2004. The nursery is set on a detached former school property within an acre of land. The Ofsted rated ‘Outstanding’ setting has capacity for 96 children.
Just Childcare owns 33 nurseries. The company said that it had been attracted to the ‘successful and well-established’ Playdays nursery because of its ‘fantastic reputation’ in the Bolton area for providing exceptional care and education. Just Childcare also said that the nursery had ‘wonderful outdoor facilities’. Many Just Childcare settings run forest schools.
David Johnson, chief executive of Just Childcare, said, ‘We are pleased to add Playdays to our North-West family of nurseries. Blackrod is a great location, situated between two of our established nurseries in Atherton and Chorley. We look forward to building on the strong foundations set by Carl and Ruth and working with the staff and parents.’
Sofia Beck, business agent at Christie & Co, handled the sale and added, ‘We are confident that the nursery will be nurtured and go from strength to strength under the guidance of David and Jacqueline, as they plan to further improve the opportunities within the strong and long-standing staff team currently in place at Playdays.’
Playdays employs a staff of 35, many long-serving, and the group has no plans to change the current team.
Asked about further plans for expansion, a Just Childcare spokesperson said, ‘We are always on the look-out for exceptional nurseries to join our family. That being said, we focus on quality over quantity when acquiring new settings, so whilst we are expanding we are doing so gradually.’
