Strong interest in Kids Allowed investment
THE boss of Kids Allowed, the ambitious North West child care company, says she is “confident” of securing an investment partner to fund the expansion of the business.
Jennie Johnson is working with Manchester corporate finance house Rickitt Mitchell to bring in a backer to allow her to open a further 12 sites across the North West.
She told TheBusinessDesk: “We’ve not completed anything yet, but my aim is to do so by Easter. We have been very well received by the market and there has been a great level of interest in us.”
Ms Johnson, who opened her first nursery centre in Cheadle in 2005, said would-be investors have been attracted by Kids Allowed’s reputation as a high quality service provider.
Asked about whether raising funds in the current climate was an issue, she said: “The message seems to be from the finance community that deals involving quality offerings are still getting away, and we believe we are in that category, but are not complacent.”
Kids Allowed currrently operates three centres, Cheadle, Christie Fields on Princess Parkway in Manchester and Knutsford.
Last November Ms Johnson completed a £7.5m refinance of Kids Allowed, which enabled her to buy out the original investors in the business and take full ownership of the sites in Cheadle and Manchester.
As well as offering child care for babies and toddlers, Kids Allowed also offeres a concierge service for parents, allowing them to drop off their dry cleaning at the same time as their children.
