The nursery in Birkenshaw, Bradford, which was acquired last year by the group, suddenly closed last week.
According to local paper reports, images posted on social media revealed a Bailiff Possession Notice letter placed in the windows of the Welcome@Birkenshaw setting.
A spokesperson from Welcome Nurseries, which operates 48 settings across the country, said, ‘We are really sorry to our parents, children and our wonderful staff for this mistake.
‘We made a serious admin error at head office and somehow the Birkenshaw setting was missed from the quarterly rent roll. The landlord took swift action, without notice, which could have been avoided with better communication. There are no rent arrears, and we are hoping to re-open soon.’
It is the second nursery owned by the group to have shut suddenly within a matter of weeks after the closure of Welcome@Leyland in Lancashire last month.
Welcome Nurseries told Nursery World that the setting, which was graded as inadequate by Ofsted in February, has been temporarily closed due to staff shortages.
The setting's Ofsted report states that ‘children’s safety and well-being are at considerable risk’ and ‘The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.’
It also says that ‘The curriculum intent is unclear and poorly implemented’, and ‘Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who receive additional funding is poor.’
A spokesperson for Welcome Nurseries said, ‘The Leyland setting has been temporarily closed due to staff shortages. It's one of our smallest settings and three staff left without notice, putting us out of ratio, so we had no option but to close temporarily. We have been recruiting and hope to re-open in September.’
Responding to local reports suggesting parents are owed money for nursery sessions that were not provided, the spokesperson added, ‘No parents or staff are out of pocket.’
