London-based investment management firm Downing has appointed Chris Jessop as chair and Sinead Johnson as chief executive of Chalk Nursery Group, which Downing established earlier this year.

Jessop is an experienced healthcare chief executive and chair who has held previous board roles as chair of ABL Health, The Vet and Optima Health and was a non-executive director at Ascenti. He previously sat on the executive board of Nuffield Health and was a divisional chief executive at Bupa and AXA Health.

Johnson has experience of early years education and worked in senior leadership roles in several nursery groups, including Kidsunlimited and Asquith Nurseries, and spent three years in the leisure sector at David Lloyd Clubs. Most recently, she worked at All About Children, where she led the company’s 2022 sale to the Dutch private equity-backed childcare group Partou.

Jon Simon, investment director at Downing and lead for Chalk Nursery Group project said: “Sinead and Chris are terrific leaders and bring significant experience that will be critical to our future growth and success. Along with the rest of the board, I look forward to supporting Sinead and Chris, as Downing’s development capital team partners with exceptional management teams to help realise their growth ambitions and maximise potential of their business, by providing flexible funding solutions, strategic support and access to its networks.”

Executive search firm Compass Carter Osborne helped facilitate the appointments.