Acquiring the four Red Apple Nurseries - three in Edinburgh and one in Livingston - last week marked the first entry into Scotland by the US-based Bright Horizons Family Solutions (BHFS). The company already owns nurseries in London and Dublin, specialising in employer-sponsored childcare for clients including HSBC, J Sainsbury plc and IBM, and is considering expanding on the continent, particularly France.
BHFS, which is unable to use the name Bright Horizons in the UK because of an existing nursery chain with the same title, acquired London-based Nurseryworks in June 2000 and Circle of Friends in Dublin early last year.
Red Apple, which will retain its name, has 296 places and employs 90 staff. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed but it has been revealed that the acquisition is the start of expansion in Scotland.
BHFS chief executive officer David Lissy said, 'There is tremendous opportunity for BHFS to serve employers and families in Scotland and help them to achieve a work/life balance by offering high-quality childcare.
'We found a valuable partner in Red Apple Nurseries, with whom we share a commitment to providing children with a dynamic, nurturing, educational environment. With strong roots in the Scottish market, their four nurseries will serve as the cornerstone for our growth in Scotland while providing the local expertise critical to appropriately supporting children and families here.'
Susan Hay, chairman of BHFS Europe, said, 'One of the reasons we decided to make an acquisition in Scotland was because quite a lot of our US clients have a presence in Edinburgh, alongside London and Dublin.
'We are not planning on developing exclusively in these places, but they are strong areas for our US client base. Acquiring Red Apple completes the triangle. There is also an awful lot of development going on in Scotland, especially in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and there are currently very few nurseries there compared with England. We will go where we see a demand for services, and Glasgow has to be a relevant place.
'We will continue to follow the same strategies of being interested in employer sponsorship and we are finding that the number of employers who recognise the importance of work/life balance is growing very fast in Scotland. Although London will remain the centre of the European operation, we have made an acquisition rather than go from London because we are very conscious of cultural sensitivity and feel that it is better to have a presence in the area, because then we have people who are sensitive to local issues.'
Diane Peden, principal of Red Apple Nurseries, said, 'For more than a decade we have worked hard to establish the Red Apple Nurseries as the very best choice for the care and education of young children.
'This new partnership with BHFS will allow Red Apple Nurseries to broaden its reach and to care for even more children and parents throughout Scotland. It is an exciting development that will build on the foundation we have established in ways we never imagined.'
Commenting on the takeover, Patrick Carter, managing director of National School Transfer, which specialises in the sale of nurseries and schools, said, 'There certainly is not a trend for buying nurseries in Scotland at the moment.
'The market is a little untapped and this could be a blank-sheet way of getting hold of a profile of nurseries relatively simply. Personally, I find it difficult to sell nurseries in Scotland. The nursery group may find that if they can clean up in one area by, say, buying out a lot of nurseries in Edinburgh or Glasgow, then they can impose a common standard over all the area. To buy four nurseries at once is a good way to get a foothold and this will likely be the start of them buying more.'
