Kids Planet acquire East Midlands nursery group via RDK

Redwoods Dowling Kerr oversees corporate acquisition of a successful day nursery group of 5 in the East Midlands.

The origins of the group began in 2009 when the vendor Natalie Johnson opened her first setting in Newbold, Chesterfield. Over the last decade the group has enjoyed incredible year on year success, with their outstanding reputation and inclusive service leading to a surge in demand and the addition of another 4 settings.

The tremendous levels of care continuously demonstrated throughout all of the settings has earned the group unanimous praise from the local community and officials alike, with the nurseries being awarded “OUTSTANDING” and “GOOD” ratings by Ofsted.

The highly regarded group of 5 nurseries has an incredible combined capacity of 420 places, caring for children up to the age of 5, with one setting providing an after school and holiday club service that facilitates children up to 12 years old.

The vendor Natalie Johnson commented;

“I would just like to thank Redwoods Dowling Kerr for making the sale process of our group of 5 nurseries seamless from Start to finish. I chose Redwoods as I bought my first nursery from them 10 years ago and was very pleased with the purchase process and professionalism.”

“I am so glad I made that decision as I would not have met Jenna Caldwell.  Jenna has been amazing, beyond words, I will never be able to thank her enough. Jenna understood that selling excellence in childcare group was a mixture of emotions for me.”

“Jenna understood that the nurseries had been my life for the last 10 years and that even though it was the right decision for me to sell, it was a very emotional one. Jenna supported me daily and I will never be able to thank her enough for that. Jenna works tirelessly everyday including late nights and weekends ensuring that everything is dealt with effectively and efficiently.”

“Jenna, Thank you so very much.”

The successful bidders were Kids Planet Day Nurseries Limited who saw this as an ideal group acquisition for them to open within a new region. Kids Planet now have an impressive 38 settings.

Clare Roberts Chief Executive Kids Planet commented;

“We are thrilled to be adding this group of 5 to our family of nurseries at Kids Planet. This will be our first acquisition outside of the North West increasing our total settings to 38 and is the start of our plans to become a national childcare operator.”

“We are really looking forward to working with the already established team and building on the high quality developed by Natalie and them over the last 10 years. We can see a lot of synergies in terms of how our companies work and are really excited about this acquisition as we continue to grow.”

Director of Childcare for Redwoods Dowling Kerr, Jenna Caldwell commented;

“I am so thrilled for Natalie. After 10 years of pure dedication to the sector, she can now concentrate on her new business venture, safe in the knowledge that her nursery group will continue to thrive under the ownership of Kids Planet.”

“Natalie came to us as after having another agent appraise the business as she knew we were the market leaders in Childcare and were best placed to find her the right buyer for the maximum price. We successfully achieved an offer over her expectations and managed the sale from start to finish so that Natalie could continue with the day to day running of the business.”

“Although there was a lot of work and hours involved in completing this transaction within a short timescale it was an absolute pleasure to work with both Natalie and Kids Planet.”