According to the research by University College London (UCL), nurseries in England are being 'bought up' by large companies without necessarily creating more places or investing more in staff.
The report, published today, charts changes in early years provision over the past two decades. It is based on a review of existing research and data, along with interviews and surveys of 80 nurseries. This included investigation into the financial operation of five medium–to–large private-for-profit nursery groups and six not-for-profit nursery groups.
It shows that large private-for-profit companies are ‘heavily indebted’, and their ‘risky’ financial operating models could threaten the provision of nursery places. For example, researchers found companies had consistent losses of over £10 million and some had borrowing leverage ratios of over 50 per cent.
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