Nursery World - BHFS and Teddies deal creates new top nursery chain

Bright Horizons Family Solutions, the second largest nursery chain in the UK, has bought Teddies Nurseries, creating the largest network of childcare settings in Britain.

The acquisition of Teddies, the seventh largest nursery chain in the UK with 32 settings, will increase the number of Bright Horizons-owned settings to 147, and its total number of childcare places to 9,271.

Its closest rival, Busy Bees, has 132 settings but offers 11,598 places (Nursery Chains, Autumn 2008).

Bright Horizons has been named as one of the 50 best workplaces in the UK by the Great Place to Work Institute and the Financial Times in the past three years of 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Mark Ellerby, managing director of Bupa Care Services, the former owner of Teddies, said, 'Teddies is an excellent business with a highly motivated and well-trained team providing high quality childcare. We believe it has a greater opportunity to continue to grow and thrive as part of a group whose core business and focus is childcare and early years education.'

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