Busy Bees lives up to its name with more acquisitions
Expanding nursery group Busy Bees has continued its acquisition strategy with purchases that have added six sites to its UK portfolio.
The Staffordshire-based group now has 340 nurseries in the UK and around 150 overseas.
Last week it completed its £87m takeover of Canadian group Brightpath while it bought 70 nurseries in Singapore and Malaysia in 2015.
The latest purchases are four nurseries owned by Bramleys Nurseries in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire, plus the Toybox Great Denham Nursery in Bedfordshire and Heriot Hill Nursery in Edinburgh.
Marg Randles, managing director at Busy Bees Childcare, said: “We have very specific requirements when choosing who we buy. It has to be an environment that allows children to be happy and to thrive.
“It has to be a place that either gives children the best start in life or where we think we can make it happen. We look for great leadership and committed teams willing to strive to deliver exceptional opportunities for children and support services to parents.”
Busy Bees was founded in 1983 by three couples in Lichfield – including Marg and Peter Randles, and group chief executive John Woodward – who didn’t think there was suitable provision for their own children.
It now delivers care and education to more than 35,000 children under the age of five, with 98% of its nurseries holding an Ofsted rating of outstanding or good.
The group is owned by Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, which first invested in 2013 to drive its international expansion.
