While I hesitate to mention the ‘B’ word, in last year’s commentary I wrote of the possibility of both a no-deal Brexit and a general election this year.
As Nursery Chains went to press, a general election has just been set for 12 December, but the political uncertainty of Brexit remains.
Despite this, and the many challenges the sector continues to face – ongoing underfunding and the recruitment crisis in particular – the 2019 Nursery Chains’ top 25 table shows an increase in both the number of registered childcare places and the number of nurseries operated by the biggest groups in the UK.
In 2019, the groups in our league table of the 25 largest nursery chains in the UK own or manage 1,514 settings, providing 118,587 childcare places.
This is an increase of 8,316 places on the 2018 table figures and 81 more nurseries.
Some of the groups in the top 25 have experienced rapid growth this year, through acquiring smaller chains with a handful of settings.
And there are two large groups in particular that have consolidated their positions to move up into the top five.
Just Childcare has jumped from ninth position to fourth, after adding 20 more nurseries and 1,500 more childcare places in a year to reach 60 nurseries, equivalent to 50 per cent growth since this time last year.
The group, owned by couple Jacqueline and David Johnson, has had private-equity backing for a number of years, allowing it to grow rapidly with several deals this year, with nurseries in the North West, Yorkshire and the South West of England.
Kids Planet has also sought to expand over the past 12 months, acquiring 15 more nurseries to jump from 11th place to being the fifth largest group with 46 settings.
The group is on track to fulfil its ambitious plans to grow to 50 nurseries by the end of the 2019/ 20 financial year, and has stated its aims to grow to 100 in the next five years.
In an interview with Nursery World in August, chief executive Clare Roberts said, ‘We will continue to buy existing nurseries as well as open purpose-built settings; however, we plan to move further south of where we currently operate. We started out with nurseries in the North West as it was easier for me having a young family. However, now we have created clusters of nurseries that are supported by a senior management team.’
Meanwhile, Bertram Nursery Group now operates 42 nurseries across North West England and Scotland, after adding five more nurseries and just under 500 places, to move up to eighth place.
Managing director Cary Rankin oversaw a management buyout earlier this year, with funding from Apiary Capital and Santander, and in June, Bertram bought the Glasgow-based Enchanted Forest group.
This year’s table shows movement from some relatively new operators, who are clearly expanding, backed by investors.
Set up just three years ago, ICP Nurseries has acquired 13 more nurseries since our last issue of Nursery Chains to move up to 14th place.
The group, headed by CEO Tracey Storey, operates 33 nurseries throughout the country, including ten in London, and offers more than 2,600 places.
Another relatively new group and new to the directory is Storal Learning, also established in 2016. The group has grown to 18 settings and now offers more than 1,500 places at sites across England to make it a new entry to the table in 21st place.
Finally, the well-established Childcare and Learning Group, under Robert Shannon, is a new entry to the league table in 25th place with 1,043 childcare places.
The group, set up in 1982, now operates 16 nurseries under the Cranbrook, Castle, Working Mums, and South West London Nursery Co brands. This includes the 86-place Anglo-Spanish Nursery in Clapham, and sites in London, Surrey and West Sussex.
Childcare and Learning also has plans to open a new nursery in New Malden in 2020.
As with every year, we are always keen to hear of both new and established groups to include in the directory, and 2019 is no exception.
In addition to Storal Learning, the directory includes details of 15 other new nursery groups.
One of the largest is Kindred Education, which has doubled in size to 12 nurseries and just under 900 places, after acquiring the Dizzy Ducks group of six settings in the summer and rebranding.
It is now firmly on the expansion trail with plans to grow during the rest of this year and into 2020.
Our listing also includes the six-strong Tiddlywinks group in Bury, which offers just shy of 500 places, as well as four out-of-school clubs and is seeking its seventh nursery.
In Wiltshire, TNB Garrison Early Years & Play operates seven nurseries and three after-school and holiday clubs. The group is opening a 55-place nursery in Tidworth in January.
Newcomer Toddletown is keen to expand in London and the Home Counties (see our feature on page 8).
Set up this year, Welcome Nurseries operates six settings in Colchester and Lancashire, while Wise Owls Childcare also runs six nurseries, as well as three breakfast clubs and after-school and holiday clubs in Oxfordshire and Berkshire.
Opening its first nursery in 2014, Kid Inc in Ormskirk, Lancashire, now operates four nurseries and has plans to continue to expand around the North West over the next three years.
Finally, HoneyBear Nursery in Cheadle owns three nurseries in Greater Manchester.
Ofsted league
UPDATE 10 March 2020: After we published Nursery Chains 2019 we found out that due to an Ofsted error, Children 1st @ St Peter and St Paul, had been mistakenly listed as inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate on the Ofsted website. The error has now been corrected.
This means Children 1st would have had 15 Outstanding settings and three Good settings at the time Nursery Chains went to press in November 2019. Six of the group’s settings did not have inspection reports available. This increases Children 1st's score to 4.67 points in the quality table making the group joint first with Kids Allowed. Read the full story here
As in 2018, our expanded analysis of the Ofsted reports of the biggest groups now includes all 25 of the names in our league table.
Kids Allowed achieves a double-first in being both Nursery World’s 2019 Nursery of the Year, and garnering the top spot in our quality table for the second year in a row, with five Outstanding grades and one Good.
Coming a very close second is Children 1st, with 14 nurseries graded Outstanding and three Good. And in third position is the Kids Planet group, with 17 Outstanding nurseries and six graded Good.
