Nursery group buys 18th setting
Meredith Jones Russell
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Nursery group Storal Learning has bought its 18th setting.
Smart Start Nursery School in Gravesend, which provides places for 80 children, has been sold to the expanding group.
The nursery, rated Outstanding by Ofsted, operates from two connected Victorian houses located near Gravesend High Street.
Storal Learning owns 18 nurseries across the South East, South West and North West of England and the East Midlands.
Among its settings, the group runs three Honeytree nurseries in the West of England as well as the three Swingboats Nurseries in the Midlands, which it bought last year
The previous owners of Smart Start, Terry and Shirley Wickens, have sold the nursery to begin their retirement.
‘Retirement was not a decision we took lightly as Smart Start had been in our lives for many years, it is a very special place full of very special people,’ they said. ‘We were looking for someone who could move the nursery forward so that it could continue to thrive. Sophie, our broker, introduced us to Storal Learning and immediately we realised they were the perfect match. Their forward thinking and promises of investment in Smart Start gave us confidence that the nursery as a whole would be in safe hands.’
Ashwin Grover and Varun Chanrai, managing directors of Storal Learning, said, ‘Smart Start has an enviable reputation in Gravesend for providing high quality childcare. We are extremely excited to bring the nursery into the Storal Learning family. Terry and Shirley have left a tremendous legacy for us to continue to build upon and we are really looking forward to continuing to deliver the best possible care for local families in Gravesend.’
Sophie Willcox, associate director at Christie & Co, who handled the sale, added, ‘Storal Learning were the perfect fit for Smart Start and I am delighted to have assisted both Shirley and Terry in finding them the right buyer to carry on their legacy and Storal Learning in their continued expansion across the country.’
