Nursery buys second setting with Co-operative funding
Vesela Gladicheva
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
A couple from Saddleworth, near Oldham, have opened their second nursery after securing financial backing from the Co-operative Bank.
Vin and Elaine Fraser, who already own Swan Meadow Private Day Nursery in Delph, Saddleworth, have acquired and renovated a rival setting in the village.
Nature’s Nursery was rated ‘satisfactory’ by Ofsted in 2011. The nursery - now renamed as Cottage Private Day Nursery - has created 22 jobs in addition to the existing 34 at Swan Meadow Nursery. This expansion, the couple say, makes them one of the biggest employers in the village.
Mr Fraser said, ‘We needed to expand because we realised we had more children on the waiting list than we had in the nursery itself. Our ethos is based on providing outdoor activities and providing a high level of care from skilled staff which makes us very popular with parents.’
In 2003, the couple bought Stepping Stones Nursery in Delph, which provided places for 45 children. They changed the name to Swan Meadow Nursery and have expanded the number of spaces to 110 for children aged from six weeks to five-years-old.
There are plans for a holiday club at the new nursery, giving up to 79 children the opportunity to play and learn outdoors. Extra space offered by the new nursery will allow Vin and Elaine Fraser to deliver ‘live site training’, bringing teachers and nursery nurses on site to demonstrate how the outdoors can enhance education.
The funding package for the couple’s first and second nurseries was arranged by Paula Brown, a relationship manager at the Co-operative Bank.
Mr Fraser said, ‘Paula has been there from the beginning and so fully understands our business. Hopefully we can look forward to continuing our relationship.’
