Market roundup: Nursery groups continue expansion in the wake of coronavirus
Nicole Weinstein
Friday, July 24, 2020
Nursery groups across the UK are continuing to acquire new settings, despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Little Beehive Group, located in Fife and Angus, Scotland, has acquired Little Einsteins' nursery in Kirkcaldy. The nursery, which has been trading for over 15 years, is registered to accommodate up to 86 children but following a 10-week renovation project during lockdown, the new owners have transformed it into a contemporary open-plan provision that will accommodate 92 children aged up to five years old.
Carol Craig, Little Beehive’s director and project lead, said, ‘From the first viewing, we saw the potential the space had, and our goal is to create a modern, clean child-centred provision, allowing free play between areas of the rooms to give the children the freedom of choice and to encourage learning through play.’ This purchase, managed by Christie & Co, is the sixth setting in the Little Beehive Group, providing care for more than 500 children.
Welcome Nurseries, the fast-expanding nursery group founded last year, has acquired its eighth setting in Sefton, Liverpool.
Tilly Tots Day Nursery, which was set up in September 2018 and has yet to be inspected by Ofsted, is registered for 85 children. This acquisition brings the total number of childcare places in the group to 785. The group is actively seeking new acquisitions and has a pipeline to take it to 2,000 childcare places by the end of the year. In June, it acquired Welcome Nursery @ Crompton Street, formerly ‘Go Wild’ nursery in Bury Greater Manchester.
Linda Cuddy, childcare and education director, said, ‘Tilly Tots is a highly regarded nursery in the area and we are delighted to be the new owners and look forward to working with a committed team.’
The Childcare and Learning Group, which owns 17 nurseries across London and the South East has bought Little House Day Nursery (below), a 64-place setting in Pimlico, London.
Since its establishment in 1998, Little House Day Nursery has been owned and run by Colin Shaw and Ms Rachel Higbee, who have decided to sell in order to pursue a well-earned retirement. The sale was handled by business property adviser, Christie & Co.
Amanda Westie, of Kiddi Galore Nursery in Wiltshire, is the new owner of Honeybee’s Day Nursery and Forest School (below) in Cullompton, Devon.
The 40-place setting, which operates from a purpose-built, detached property with an abundance of outdoor space, offers the potential to extend the property and numbers further. The nursery opened in September 2015, under the previous ownership of Phil and Sue Proffitt and had achieved a ‘Good’ Ofsted rating. The sale was handled by Christie & Co.
Little Explorers Day Nursery, based in Essex, has acquired an eight-bed detached house in Epping Forest with plans to convert it into a nursery. Founded in 2015 by Lee Stimpson, Little Explorers operated at 90 percent occupancy pre-Covid-19 and is an Ofsted-rated ‘Good’ setting. Over the next 10-15 years, Little Explorers plans to open five more nurseries in strategic locations on the outskirts of London. The purchase was facilitated with a loan from OakNorth Bank.
La Maternelle, an expanding childcare operator, which runs two nurseries in Cheshire, has purchased Elmscot Day Nursery and Nursery School (below) in Nantwich, Cheshire.
The business was established by its current owners, Elmscot Day Nurseries , who own seven settings in Cheshire and South Manchester. The group took the decision to sell the nursery as its geographical location set the business 'a little out on a limb' from the rest of the group. The sale was made by Christie & Co.
Dalbir and Satinder Bath, who own a family-run nursery group, have bought Happidayz Nursery, a 108-place nursery in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. Seeking an expansion to their portfolio, the purchasers cited the setting’s ideal location as a key driving force for the acquisition, and now seek to build upon the success of the nursery. Wishing to fulfil her dream of emigrating, the previous owner Tina Scully made the difficult decision to place her nursery on the market and the sale was handled by Redwoods Dowling Kerr.
