Nursery World - Buffer Bear nursery chain is sold to The Co-operative

The Co-operative Childcare has acquired the Buffer Bear Nurseries chain of 24 settings in a deal which will create the largest nursery group in the UK run along social enterprise and co-operative lines.

The new combined group will operate a total of 32 nurseries offering more than 2,000 childcare places throughout England.

The Co-operative Childcare has six nurseries in Oxford, Swindon and Gloucestershire. It is owned and operated by the Midcounties Co-operative, which started running nurseries under its original name, Imagine Co-operative Childcare, in 2003.

Buffer Bear was founded in 1992 by outgoing chief executive Dr Kay Turner, who took on the running of four British Rail nurseries after BR's privatisation.

The nursery group grew as a social enterprise business model, opening several nurseries under the Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative, in children's centres and in workplace and NHS nurseries on hospital sites.

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