Nursery group Storal has grown to more than 60 sites and 2,400 employees as it marks a decade since its launch.<\/p>\n
The Long Eaton-headquartered business, founded by childhood friends Ashwin Grover and Varun Chanrai in October 2016, now provides more than 7,700 childcare places across the UK.<\/p>\n
Its expansion has accelerated over the past five years, including the acquisition of Children 1st in 2024, which added 23 nurseries to the group and significantly increased its presence across England.<\/p>\n
Storal has expanded into eight further locations this year, stretching from London to Lancashire.<\/p>\n
The group started with the acquisition of Hemsley House Nursery School in Maidstone, Kent, in 2016.<\/p>\n
Co-founder Ashwin Grover said: \u201cWhen we first started Storal, the vision was simple. We wanted to create something that made a genuine difference to children and families, while building a business people enjoyed being part of.<\/p>\n
\u201cTen years later, that vision hasn’t changed. If anything, it’s been strengthened by the incredible people who’ve joined us along the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bigger we’ve become, the more families we’re able to support, but growth should never come at the expense of quality.\u201d<\/p>\n
The company has also expanded its training operation, becoming a Department for Education-approved apprenticeship provider last year and launching the Storal Apprenticeship Academy.<\/p>\n
Storal said nine of its nurseries have been graded Strong for inclusion under Ofsted’s new inspection framework during the past year.<\/p>\n
Woodville Preschool in Derbyshire secured three Exceptional judgements and was subsequently named Pre-School of the Year at the Nursery World Awards.<\/p>\n
The company has also secured Eco-Schools Green Flag accreditation for 39 of its nurseries.<\/p>\n
Sarah Mackenzie, CEO of Storal, joined when the group operated fewer than 30 nurseries.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cToday, we’re a national group supporting thousands of children and families, but what I’m proudest of is that our growth hasn’t required us to choose between scale and quality.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’ve worked hard to build the infrastructure and expertise of a larger organisation while preserving the individuality that makes each nursery special.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mackenzie said the group intended to continue expanding during its second decade.<\/p>\n
She added: \u201cThe first ten years were about building something special. The next ten will be about extending that impact to even more children and families, while staying true to the values that have shaped Storal from the very beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Storal now employs 2,400 people and provides childcare places for 7,700 children<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":2116817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53262],"coauthors":[95],"class_list":["post-2116816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news","tag-derbyshire","tag-featured-story"],"yoast_head":"\n