Commercial property investor and developer The Harkalm Group is acquiring eight nursery properties across the UK, following a £2.1m loan from digital bank OakNorth.

The Harkalm Group, which specialises in the high street, roadside, supermarket and education sectors, has invested more than £30m in the UK’s early years sector.

The group will use the loan to buy eight Good or Outstanding Ofsted-rated nursery properties, located in residential areas in Devon, Hampshire, Walsall and Birmingham. The Harkalm Group will continue to let the sites to in-situ nursery operator The Old Station Nursery Group,  which has provided nursery care from these properties since 2022.

Adam Harvey,  chief executive and co-founder of The Harkalm Group, said: “Harkalm has a proven track record in both sale-and-leaseback transactions and the day nursery sector, making this portfolio an ideal fit with our strategic vision. This transaction exemplified the seamless collaboration between our acquisitions team and our in-house professionals, allowing us to efficiently navigate a relatively complex deal.”

Greg Manson, director of debt finance at OakNorth, added: “This transaction represented an exciting opportunity to support a company that we’ve been hugely impressed with for several years now. Adam and the team have built an incredibly strong and entrepreneurial firm, that continues to add value in everything it does. The combination of an award-winning and experienced operator in Old Station Nursery Group, with the projected tailwinds for the UK’s childcare market, means this acquisition is set to be another success story for the group.”