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Busy Bees expands in the Midlands

The UK’s largest nursery group Busy Bees has bought Bush Babies Children’s Nurseries, a chain of seven nurseries in and around Leicester.

Busy Bees now operates a total of 257 settings in the UK – around 50 more than its nearest rival Bright Horizons.

The increase of 19 settings over the last six months also includes acquiring Kids 1st, a group of 11 ‘outstanding’ nurseries in the North East. 

Bush Babies is a well-established local chain, founded by Jane Brailsford in 1992, and with each setting rated as ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’. The seven nurseries offer 465 registered places, bringing Busy Bees total places to more than 23,000. The company now employs more than 7,700 members of staff.

Steve Eccleston, development director of Busy Bees, said, ‘Our UK growth strategy this year is to continue to expand through a combination of group acquisitions and brand new site launches. We will also continue to expand our international portfolio.

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