Steve Taylor, owner of Winchcombe Farm Day Nursery, which had been struggling financially, permanently closed the 80-place setting on 22 December 2017 after operating for 15 years.
Mr Taylor said he took the decision after being downgraded from ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement’ by Ofsted last month which he called a ‘commercial death sentence’.
The nursery’s no notice inspection was triggered by a complaint to Ofsted about safeguarding concerns over plans to convert two of the setting’s outdoor classrooms into holiday lets. The inspector found that the arrangements for safeguarding were effective and the nursery premises was safe and secure.
In a letter to parents, Mr Taylor said, ‘We have made no secret about the struggle we’ve had in the last 12 months to keep the nursery afloat, with hugely increased running costs, decreasing funding for the 15 and 30 hours and the effects of Government policy generally. We’ve been supporting the nursery financially for some time now and are no longer able to do this, having exhausted our savings.
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