BGF-backed Kids Planet Day Nurseries, which offers more than 4500 childcare places across the North West of England has acquired Chesterfield based nursery group, Excellence in Childcare (EIC). It marks the group’s first acquisition outside of the North West and takes the total number of nurseries within the Kids Planet group to 38.
Established in 2008 by Clare Roberts and her father John Hoban, the business has gone from strength-to-strength as one of the most reputable children’s day nurseries in the North West. The EIC group was founded in 2009 by Natalie Johnson, qualified teacher and early years professional. Having acquired the group, Kids Planet aims to maintain its focus on quality care and well-invested facilities as well as its first-class support for parents and families that have become synonymous to the group’s ongoing success.
The five Chesterfield nurseries making up the EIC group consist of Cheeky Monkeys Day Nursery, registered in 2009 and Clever Crocs Day Nursery registered in 2016 in addition to the Ofsted outstanding The Jungle Day Nursery and Little Lions Day Nursery. The fifth nursery, Tiny Tigers Day Nursery, is a brand-new purpose-built building at the heart of Chesterfield town centre which opened in January 2017.
The expansion into Derbyshire marks the group’s continued provision of exceptional early-years care across the North of England, following £6.5m investment from investment partner, BGF in 2018. This follow-on was after an initial £10m investment from BGF in 2017. Kids Planet has expanded its sites from 17 to 38 since BGF’s investment.
Clare Roberts, Chief Executive of Kids Planet said: “We are thrilled to be adding this group of five to our family of nurseries at Kids Planet. This will be our first acquisition outside of the North West and the start of our plans to become a national childcare operator. We are looking forward to working with the already established team and building on the high quality developed by Natalie over the last ten years. There is a great deal of synergy in terms of how both our companies operate, and as such we are extremely excited about this acquisition as we continue to grow.”
