Major chains deal: Bright Horizons buys Casterbridge Nurseries
Catherine Gaunt
Monday, May 28, 2012
Bright Horizons Family Solutions, the second biggest nursery group in the UK, has acquired all of Casterbridge Nurseries' 27 settings, in what is the largest deal that the UK nursery sector has seen for some years.
Bright Horizons now outstrips Busy Bees in terms of the number of settings it operates, and edges closer to usurping its position as the provider with the most childcare places.
Casterbridge Academy and training colleges are also included in the sale.
Bright Horizons will now operate 159 nurseries throughout the UK and Ireland, offering 11,264 places, while Busy Bees provides 11,831 places at 137 settings.
Figures from Nursery World’s Nursery Chains’ league table, show that Casterbridge Nurseries was the eighth largest nursery group in the UK and Ireland, offering 2,809 childcare places and employing more than 1,100 staff.
In a statement the nursery group said that Casterbridge Nurseries’ employees would be retained as part of the transition.
The Casterbridge settings will join the Bright Horizons and Teddies nurseries in regional clusters. Bright Horizons bought Teddies Nurseries, previously owned by Bupa Care Services, in 2009.
Carole Edmond, managing director of Bright Horizons, said, ‘We are all very excited to welcome everyone at Casterbridge and look forward to creating a great partnership, where together we can continue to promote excellence in early childhood education.
'I will be visiting the nurseries over the coming weeks and look forward to meeting the managers and their teams, the nursery children and their parents.'
Established as Casterbridge Care and Education in 2004, the group expanded rapidly.
In 2007, Casterbridge became the 12th largest group following the merger of chains Dolphin, Hatton Hill and Saplings, several acquisitions and the opening two new build nurseries.
Up until last summer Casterbridge was continuing to expand, buying Springfield Lodge Day Nurseries, two settings in Swanscombe and Dartford in Kent, and its two after-school and holiday clubs.
Bright Horizons has been put in seventh position in the UK's Best Workplaces by the Great Place to Work Institute. The nursery group is the only childcare organisation to be named in the list.
