Busy Bees Childcare has acquired Treetops Nurseries, which operates 61 settings, predominantly across the East and South-East of England, and provides over 4,400 places.
The move brings the total number of nurseries operated by Busy Bees to 329, providing around 28,500 childcare places.
Treetops, which is one of the top five largest nursery groups in the country, has been expanding steadily in recent years. In the past year alone, it acquired 13 settings. Since 2013, Treetops has bought 32 settings, including the nursery groups Happy Child in 2014 and Kindercare in 2015.
Marg Randles, managing director of Busy Bees (pictured), said, ‘We are delighted to welcome Treetops Nurseries into the Busy Bees family. The group has an excellent reputation for providing quality childcare and we are all really looking forward to working with the extremely dedicated teams in place, all of whom will continue to play the most important role providing quality care for the children in partnership with their families. Meanwhile we will be working very closely with the management team to ensure that we fully support the joint ambition to deliver exceptional care and education for children.’
Charles Eggleston, chief executive of Treetops Nurseries, said, ‘Since opening our first nursery in 1991, we have built up one of the most successful nursery businesses in the UK. It has been an incredible journey and a fantastic team effort from everyone involved. We were understandably precious about the next stage of the journey but I genuinely believe Busy Bees will continue the Treetops ethos and help us build upon the tremendous success we have achieved. I’d like to sincerely thank everyone who has helped us along the way and look forward to the exciting opportunities ahead.’
