Softly, softly

.Dolphin Nurseries acquired an existing nursery in Bracknell, Berkshire in September 2002, but the process began over 12 months earlier when we were approached by a day nursery sales agent.

As a company we build and operate our own nurseries, but there are advantages to acquiring an existing nursery, in particular the benefit of an immediate income stream on acquisition. The challenge is to manage the process to achieve good value from the negotiation and not jeopardise the goodwill you will have paid for when making changes once you own the site.

You can find nurseries for sale through a number of agents, most of which frequently advertise in Nursery World. It is worth registering your interest with all of them. Of course, you can approach a nursery directly by phone or letter, but you will need to ensure that you make contact with the owner rather than an employee - as you will discover, one of the most sensitive issues to deal with when acquiring an existing nursery business is when and how to tell the staff.