Nursery World - Nursery chain grows by five

The Just Learning nursery chain has added five new day nurseries to its portfolio in a series of three deals across England. The new nurseries will bring the number of places provided by Just Learning up to a total of 3,332. The chain was listed as the seventh-largest UK nursery group in the November 2002 issue of the Nursery World supplement Nursery Chains, and its latest acquisitions would have put it in fifth place, ahead of Bright Horizons Family Solutions and Kidsunlimited.

The new nurseries will bring the number of places provided by Just Learning up to a total of 3,332. The chain was listed as the seventh-largest UK nursery group in the November 2002 issue of the Nursery World supplement Nursery Chains, and its latest acquisitions would have put it in fifth place, ahead of Bright Horizons Family Solutions and Kidsunlimited.

Just Learning, which was bought by venture capitalists Alchemy in a 30m deal in December 2001, has acquired the three-nursery UK Voyager Group in a 2.5m deal.

The UK Voyager group, formerly listed in Nursery Chains as Partners in Play, is based in the north-east, with a 116-place nursery in Cleadon near Sunderland, an 82-place nursery in Fulwell Grange near Sunderland and a 124-place nursery at Bear Park, Durham. The group was established in 1997 and has around 70 employees.

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