Owned by Bev and Tony Driffield and run as a family business, the chain has expanded rapidly since it was set up in 2002 and now employs more than 425 people. The new acquisition takes the number of places offered by the group to 1,379.
The newly acquired nursery in the Bradley Stoke area of the city will offer 104 places and is Mama Bear’s 13th setting in Bristol. The group’s other nurseries are spread across Devon and Somerset.
In the next few months the group is expanding places at its nursery in Hengrove, Bristol, to 65 places, in January and will open another nursery in Bristol in March, with further settings at the planning stages.
Ms Driffield, a former teacher, said, ‘We are so excited to be opening a new nursery in Bradley Stoke and adding to our portfolio of much-loved nurseries in Bristol.
‘To have reached the 20 nursery milestone is a huge achievement for us and we’re so proud of the work we have put in. The idea for Mama Bear’s Day Nursery initially started in our living room in Bradley Stoke so it feels like we have come back home.’
The nursery is located close to Almondsbury Business Park and the M4/M5 motorways.
Existing staff from the nursery, previously called Butterflies Day Nursery, will be retained.
Ms Driffield added that keeping staff on helped for ‘a smooth transition’ for children already at the nursery and that the group aims for a 'home-from-home' environment.
The nursery has an on-site kitchen providing a two-course hot lunch and snacks throughout the day. The outdoor space at the nursery will be re-developed next year to create three age-specific play areas.
The new acquisition means that Mama Bear’s maintains its 11th spot in Nursery World’s league table of the biggest groups in the UK, published in Nursery World’s Nursery Chains supplement this week. The group is ranked in seventh position in terms of the quality of its provision, with 90 per cent of its settings graded good or outstanding.
