Quartet of Notts nurseries sold to southern operator

Four Nottinghamshire nurseries have been snapped up Kindred Nurseries.

The Alphabet House group of nurseries that have been acquired are located in Beeston, Lowdham, West Bridgford and White Post, and will add 348 places to Kindred’s overall nursery capacity.

Alphabet was established by husband-and-wife team Tony and Marie Brentford nearly 30 years ago.

According to the pair, it was the dedication of Ruth Pimentel, the chief executive of Kindred, together with the passion of Kindred’s employees that were key deciding factors in going ahead with the sale. Kindred was, they said, “their perfect match and a perfect complement to the Alphabet family”.

The deal sees Kindred Education grow to 36 nurseries, providing more than 2,300 Early Years Foundation Stage learning places and childcare provision within the company’s main operating regions of the UK – which are within the M25, and in the South and East of England.

Pimentel said: “The passion of the former owners of Alphabet House was evident, and they were keen to know that the settings would continue to be looked after and further developed. We are excited to start a new phase with Alphabet House being a key part of that development.”

Andrew Coulter, of Coulter Consulting, who brokered the sale, added: “The transaction sailed through to completion with ease and both sides have said with real sincerity that every minor issue was resolved with a common-sense approach. I am certain that Kindred will create many opportunities for growth and career development for the loyal workforce.”

A specialist educational legal team at Setfords, led by Helen Wong MBE (PGCE) advised on the deal.

Tony and Marie Brentford jointly said: “We worked with Helen Wong MBE at Setfords on the sale of the Alphabet House nursery group and we would highly recommend her, as she dealt skilfully with the sale and offered solutions to challenging aspects of the deal, which she also helped to resolve expediently.

“Helen was very impressive and she was available at all times to resolve any issues that came up, kept the transaction moving, liaised with our accountant so everyone was on the same page and we completed the sale extremely quickly.

“Some solicitors in our past experience can be poor at communication, but Helen is not one of those lawyers. She is very responsive, friendly and approachable, explains things clearly and never stops working until the deal is done.

“On Helen’s team was Jonathan Senior, a property expert, who was equally as instrumental. We would like to thank both Helen and Jonathan for their efforts and would have no hesitation in recommending them to other nursery operators who are thinking of selling.”

The four Alphabet House settings were sold for an undisclosed price.

Wong said: “We are thrilled to help Tony and Marie with this sale. It’s a great fit and they can be assured their beautiful nurseries are in safe hands.”