Louise Playford, head of business development (M&A) at Bright Horizons, recently joined the panel at the first NMT Owners Club event to provide insight to nursery owners as they consider their journeys ahead. 

The NMT Owners Club is an advisory hub exclusively for nursery owners who are looking to looking to buy, sell or expand. Through their online content and events such as this first one held on Tuesday 3 May, their community of industry experts shared the steps necessary to do this successfully. 

Louise said: “It was a great event and a privilege to showcase to those in attendance about our processes and approach. Each of our 300 UK nurseries blends our shared values with the uniqueness of each setting as our nursery managers know their communities well and work closely with their families to provide the best possible outcomes for the children. We have a proven track record of providing a sensitive, warm welcome to all those who transition to Bright Horizons through acquisition, and of cherishing the legacies of those whom have entrusted their businesses to us.” 

Louise sat on the panel which focused on Buying or Selling a nursery and also included Nick Brown from Christie & Co, Ruth Pimentel from Kindred and Andrew Frame from Grant Thornton. 

Louise explained during the session about how relationships are central to all mergers or acquisitions. “Everything we do is about people. From the children we care for and educate, to our new colleagues, as well as the relationships between us as buyers and the vendors and the advisors that are involved. 

“We look to establish a key team of leaders from across our business whose joint goal is collaborating to make an acquisition a success. We’ll ensure that the teams in the nursery being sold has one key person in Bright Horizons whom they can speak to for all their questions – usually the Regional Director from Bright Horizons. The Regional Director then links in with our specialists from early childhood, HR, finance, professional development and other functions, to ensure that our new colleagues, and the families they serve have the best support to become part of our family.” 

For more details on joining the Bright Horizons family then please visit here.