It is the first major merger of large nursery groups since The Co-operative Childcare acquired Buffer Bear Nurseries in January last year.
Busy Bees now operates more than 146 settings, offering more than 13,000 childcare places and employing more than 4,600 staff.
Early Years Childcare provides 685 places, with the majority of its nine settings spread throughout West Sussex and East Sussex, with two sites in Greenwich in South East London, and Basingstoke.
All of the group’s nurseries are either good or outstanding.
Busy Bees said there would be no immediate changes to the Early Years Childcare nurseries but they would be working closely with nursery managers to discuss ongoing improvements and best practice. They also confirmed that there would be future investment in the nurseries’ infrastructure and resources.
Ian Steel, owner of Early Years Childcare, said, ‘We took the decision to sell the business to Busy Bees after concluding that, as a large well-resourced organisation, they are able to focus all their attention on expanding the business while ensuring the very highest levels of care and service to customers and their children.’
Marg Randles, managing director at Busy Bees, said, ‘We have been working closely with Early Years Childcare to ensure the handover goes as smoothly as possible for children, parents and staff.
'We recognise that any change may cause some nervousness but we will be keeping everyone informed every step of the way, as we support staff to constantly develop the excellent care, resources and services the nurseries currently provide.
‘We believe that Early Years Childcare is an excellent addition to our portfolio.'
She added, ‘We have been impressed with the commitment of the staff and their drive to provide an excellent service to children and parents.
‘Nursery managers and their staff teams will continue to play the most important role, working with children and families, both current and future.’
Prior to this deal, Busy Bees group’s most recent acquisition was the buyout of Q Day Nurseries, a small chain of three settings, last July.
