Nursery group that bought Welcome appoints MD amid rebrand

Managing director Richard Boulton said the nurseries are undergoing a rebrand and the group is committed to investing in the settings.

It comes just weeks after the Harp Group, which is owned by entrepreneur Simon Fox, bought 26 of the 31 Welcome Nurseries in a pre-packaged administration deal, after Welcome Nurseries collapsed in August. Currently just 23 of these 26 nurseries are operating.

Boulton told Nursery World, ‘We have made changes at many sites over the last two months since Harp Group took over. Unfortunately, when businesses are in financial difficulty, they tend to make no investments in settings. We are keen to upgrade the quality of all of our settings, and have started this in most sites, but more investment is planned.’

The Harp Group is currently in the process of rebranding the settings, which includes changing the names of the nurseries, so they all have a tree or flower reference. They are all in the process of being re-registered with Ofsted.

The group has also appointed Sarah Blyth, who has 15 years’ experience in the early years sector, including working for large nursery chains.

Boulton, who has held various management roles throughout his career, including working as a chief operating officer at a Jewish mixed comprehensive school, said that the plan in the next three to six months is to ‘stabilise the business’, before adding more sites.

The nurseries currently trading under the Harp Group are:

• Magnolia Children’s Day Nursery in Alfreton
• Sweet Peas Children’s Day Nursery in Halifax.
• The Orchid Children’s Day Nursery at Catterick Garrison, North Yorkshire.
• Sunflowers Children’s Day Nursery in Chatham, Kent.
• Cedars Children’s Day Nursery in Clayton West, West Yorkshire.
• Meadow Islands Children’s Day Nursery in Colchester, Essex.
• The Hollies Children’s Day Nursery in Cowlersley, Huddersfield.
• Pine Trees Children’s Day Nursery in Earls Colne, Essex
• Tulips Children’s Day Nursery in Greetlands, West Yorkshire.
• Rose Tree Children’s Day Nursery in Ingol, Lancashire.
• Bonsai Children’s Day Nursery in Langho, Lancashire.
• Buttercups Children’s Day Nursery in Leyland, Lancashire.
• The Meadows Children’s Day Nursery in Sandbach, Cheshire.
• Elm Tree Children’s Day Nursery in Little Lever, Bolton.
• Primrose Children’s Day Nursery on Millstone Lane, Leicester.
• Hazel Tree Children’s Day Nursery in Preston.
• The Oaks Children’s Day Nursery in New Olleron, Nottinghamshire.
• Maple Tree Children’s Day Nursery in Congleton, Cheshire.
• Petals Children’s Day Nursery in Padgate, Warrington.
• Forest Children’s Day Nursery in Enderby, Leicester.
• Little Daffodils Children’s Day Nursery in Bootle, Merseyside.
• St Peters Children’s Day Nursery in Thrybergh, South Yorkshire.
• The Willows Children’s Day Nursery in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire.