Nursery World - Asquith to merge with Kidsunlimited

Asquith Court and Kidsunlimited, two of the UK's largest chains, are to merge and form a new company, the Nursery Years Group, making them the second-largest group in the UK in terms of number of places after Nord Anglia.

The Nursery Years Group will operate 145 nurseries and creches with 9,200 places. Each group will continue to trade under its brand name. Phil Rhodes, the former chief executive of Asquith Court and the new group's chief executive officer, confirmed that the contracts were exchanged last Thursday and that the merger was due to be completed on 1 September.

Ownership of the new group will be split 72 per cent for Asquith Court, as the larger company, with Kidsunlimited holding 28 per cent, but Mr Rhodes emphasised that it was 'a merger from a management perspective, not a takeover'. Asquith Court was previously the UK's largest chain until Nord Anglia became the market leader by acquiring first Leapfrog in a 60m deal, closely followed a month later with a buy-out of 28 Jigsaw nurseries in May this year. It now has 10,262 places.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included