Sky High Achievers adds third setting with latest Manchester nursery

The Bungalow Day Nursery is a well-regarded, high-quality setting with effective operating capacity for over 45 children aged zero to five years. As well as versatile and vibrant indoor play areas, the nursery offers an imaginative outdoor activity and learning environment, providing a variety of learning activities for each age group, including climbing apparatus, mud kitchen, growing plants, water play area, discovery garden and a sensory outhouse.

The business occupies a well-presented single-storey freehold property in the densely populated town of Denton in Manchester, which is just five miles away from Manchester City Centre.

The nursery was acquired by previous owners, Mr Gary and Mrs Lisa Kirkwood and their daughter Natasha in 2017, making it the family’s third setting. Natasha, who is a qualified and experienced Nursery Manager, dedicated her time and passion into driving the business forward and building an excellent reputation. The owners really focused on the quality of childcare and the development of staff during their tenure and, over the years, made substantial improvements to the aesthetics of the property.

The business has been purchased by Ms Fiona Jones of Sky High Achievers, which has two other sites in Tameside. Sky High Achievers prides itself on helping the whole family reach for the stars, and believes this begins with a passionate, outside-the-box thinking team. It also holds that being outside and learning from nature is a huge part of the daily experience, so owning The Bungalow, with its large wrap-around garden, is a perfect extension of this. The business already has plans for an allotment.

Mr Gary Kirkwood comments, “The process happened in less than three months from The Bungalow being put on the market. It’s a great fit for Fiona, Lucy and the Sky High Achievers team who have two other nurseries in the area. Natasha can now really focus her time on our other businesses in Warrington and Northwich.”

Ms Fiona Jones comments, “The purchase was seamless from the time of enquiry. Everyone worked together efficiently to get us to the final finish line, and we are very excited to add The Bungalow Nursery to our portfolio. We have lots of exciting plans ahead for the setting to bring it into our fold and ensure that every child who attends and every staff member who works for us can truly reach for the stars.”

Sofia Beck, Director – Childcare & Education at Christie & Co, who handled the sale, comments, “We’ve known the Kirkwood family for a number of years and were more than happy to help find a new owner for The Bungalow Day Nursery which was the most recent addition to their group of nurseries. Although the setting improved dramatically and thrived under Natasha’s control, the owners were conscious of the contrasting demographic between this nursery and their two in Cheshire which was their reason for the sale. The Bungalow makes an excellent addition for Fiona’s established group, with her knowledge of the local area working to her advantage and that of the developing business. I wish both families all the best with the future of their groups and have no doubt each of their settings will continue to thrive under their dedicated ownership.

“This deal demonstrates how important location is as a selling factor for a private nursery buyer. Often it takes knowledge and experience of operating in a specific area for a purchaser to see growth potential and where they can add value themselves. It’s motivating to see how active the nursery market has become again in recent months, and great how local operators are fast growing their groups and showing serious appetite for new opportunities.”

The Bungalow Day Nursery was sold for an undisclosed price.

For further information on this press release, contact:
Phoebe Burrows, Corporate Communications Executive
P: 020 7448 8849 or E: phoebe.burrows@christie.com

Contact the agent:
Sofia Beck, Director – Childcare & Education
P: 07736 616 687 or E: sofia.beck@christie.com

Visit Christie & Co’s Business Search page to find out more about current childcare listings.