The nursery group All About Children, set up by the former chief executive of Asquith nurseries, has opened its first setting in London after saving a nursery from closure.
The 72-place Lavender Hill Day nursery in Clapham Junction, which has re-opened after a £120,000 major refurbishment, is the third nursery for the growing chain.
When All About Children acquired the nursery, which had received an inadequate Ofsted, the nursery was about to shut down, leaving staff facing redundancy and parents without a nursery place.
The sale of the nursery was facilitated by Andrew Coulter of Coulter Consulting, who approached All about Children about the prospect of buying the nursery.
Chief executive Russell Ford said that in order to keep the nursery open, the deal needed to be concluded within a week and Ofsted registration in two weeks.
Mr Ford added, ‘Ofsted were absolutely brilliant in what is normally a lengthy process. They helped us to keep the nursery open.’
The site is in a prime location, around 500 metres from Clapham Junction station. Mr Ford said, ‘This probably has the busiest "foot flow" of any station in London. The nursery is also in the car park of a busy Asda supermarket, with excellent drop-off and parking.’
Describing the nursery staff as ‘high calibre’, Mr Ford said that there were a number of factors why the nursery had been judged inadequate.
‘It would have been easy to assume that because the nursery had received an inadequate Ofsted report that that the team were poor. We couldn’t be happier with the team – they’re great. Everyone has pulled together to make this happen so quickly, including the landlord, who has been keen to ensure a smooth transition.’
Mr Ford, who set up the All About Children last year, said that he expected to acquire a further two nurseries to add to the nursery group this year.
The nursery business was started last year with the purchase of two stand-alone nurseries in Cheltenham and Sutton Coldfield (News, 3 November 2010).
Mr Ford, who set up the group with two former Asquith colleagues, said he expected to expand the chain to 12 to 15 nurseries in the next few years.
When All About Children acquired the nursery, which had received an inadequate Ofsted, the nursery was about to shut down, leaving staff facing redundancy and parents without a nursery place.
The sale of the nursery was facilitated by Andrew Coulter of Coulter Consulting, who approached All about Children about the prospect of buying the nursery.
Chief executive Russell Ford said that in order to keep the nursery open, the deal needed to be concluded within a week and Ofsted registration in two weeks.
Mr Ford added, ‘Ofsted were absolutely brilliant in what is normally a lengthy process. They helped us to keep the nursery open.’
The site is in a prime location, around 500 metres from Clapham Junction station. Mr Ford said, ‘This probably has the busiest "foot flow" of any station in London. The nursery is also in the car park of a busy Asda supermarket, with excellent drop-off and parking.’Describing the nursery staff as ‘high calibre’, Mr Ford said that there were a number of factors why the nursery had been judged inadequate.
‘It would have been easy to assume that because the nursery had received an inadequate Ofsted report that that the team were poor. We couldn’t be happier with the team – they’re great. Everyone has pulled together to make this happen so quickly, including the landlord, who has been keen to ensure a smooth transition.’
Mr Ford, who set up the All About Children last year, said that he expected to acquire a further two nurseries to add to the nursery group this year.
The nursery business was started last year with the purchase of two stand-alone nurseries in Cheltenham and Sutton Coldfield (News, 3 November 2010).
Mr Ford, who set up the group with two former Asquith colleagues, said he expected to expand the chain to 12 to 15 nurseries in the next few years.
