Derby nursery firm sold to Busy Bees

Busy Bees, the largest childcare provider in the UK, is set to buy Derby-based Treetops Nurseries, which has a portfolio of 61 sites.

Busy Bees employs and provides training for more than 8,000 staff to deliver care for more than 35,000 children.

The acquisition brings the number of nurseries to 329 in the UK.

Marg Randles, managing director of Busy Bees Childcare, said: “We are delighted to welcome Treetops Nurseries into the Busy Bees family, the group has an excellent reputation for providing quality childcare and we are all really looking forward to working with the extremely dedicated teams in place, all of whom will continue to play the most important role providing quality care for the children in partnership with their families. Meanwhile we will be working very closely with the management team to ensure that we fully support the joint ambition to deliver exceptional care and education for children.”

Treetops Nurseries CEO Charles Eggleston said: “Since opening our first nursery in 1991, we have built up one of the most successful nursery businesses in the UK. It has been an incredible journey and a fantastic team effort from everyone involved. We were understandably precious about the next stage of the journey but I genuinely believe Busy Bees will continue the Treetops ethos and help us build upon the tremendous success we have achieved. I’d like to sincerely thank everyone who has helped us along the way and look forward to the exciting opportunities ahead.”