A specialist educational legal team at Setfords led by Helen Wong MBE, PCGE has completed a strategically important sale of four nurseries in Merseyside to the fast growing nursery group, Kids Planet.

Waverton Day Nurseries is an independent family owned group of private nurseries which are located in the Merseyside area opened in 2013. Their most prestigious nursery is located at Knowsley Safari Park with a long waiting list as well as nurseries in Wavertree, Whiston and Kirby. The ethos of the group is “Childhood is not a race to see how quickly a child can read write and count. Childhood is a small window of time to learn and develop at a pace which is right for each individual child.”

The sellers – mother and daughter, Tracey Jenkins and Cheryl Taylor have 20 years’ experience in the childcare sector and have capacity for 342 children, with one rated ‘Outstanding’ and the others rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted. Tracey explained that she set up the nursery as they couldn’t find anything for her children that was the quality she wanted. She said “our nurseries care for babies and children up to the age of 5 years old. Our aim is to provide the highest standard of nursery care in a safe, stimulating and caring environment. We pride ourselves on being able to make a positive influence on your child’s future educational, physical and social development. As I look to my retirement, who we sell to must have the same values and we entrust our legacy to them.”

They asked Sarah Ellison of Redwoods Dowling Kerr (RDK) to represent them who secured multiple bids for Tracey and Cheryl who chose Kids Planet as they liked the ethos of the daughter – father duo of Clare Roberts OBE and her father John Hoban. As well as running a large nursery group, Clare sits on policy forums with DFE, Ofsted, and the NDNA and attends APPG meetings in Westminster to discuss the support the childcare sector needs.

Tracey said: “I’ve been exploring what my next stage in life might be and this felt that the time was right for myself and family to begin a new chapter and a much needed chance to pause and reflect on all I have achieved. RDK supported myself in identifying a buyer that had similar family values and qualities as my own nurseries and I felt that Kids Planet had a synergy that I could identify with. ”

Tracey chose to use Helen Wong MBE of Setfords given Helen’s track record in the educational world. There was a lot at stake and she required a specialist solicitor to help her.

Tracey commented “I would highly recommend Helen Wong MBE of Setfords if you are looking to sell your nursery. She has unparalleled expertise in the most complicated of situations and has helped us deal with every single issue until resolved to help us sell our nursery. Usually lawyers will just wait until prodded. However, Helen is pro-active, she is technically brilliant yet very approachable, helps to explain the issues at hand. I was extremely touched that Helen got me the best deal I could have wished for – she was even thinking about the grandchildren – that’s the level of detail! That was the icing on the cake. I would also like to thank Jonathan Senior who helped on the property issues. He has been tenacious and an enormous help. I could not have sold this business without their help. They are really the best lawyers I have come across and if you are selling your nursery you must use Helen Wong.”

Helen Wong said “I wish Tracey and Cheryl and family all the best. This is a momentous transaction and a lifetime of their hard work has been protected by the sale to Kids Planet. There were a lot of complicated legal situations to untangle but we got there in the end. Running a business is sometimes so busy that the preparation to sell one’s business gets overlooked. What we had to assist with in Tracey’s instance was not just the sale but the pre-steps to prepare for sale, securing landlord’s consent, dealing with historic issues in respect of the property, so that the business was ready for sale. I want to thank Tracey and Robert (Cheryl’s husband) in particular for their commitment to the due diligence process whilst running the business. The sale process is extremely document intensive and with four sites, there was significant documentation to prepare. On top of that there is the emotional rollercoaster that a vendor feels. It is always hard to detach from a business which morphs into one’s life, but I’m glad Tracey sold on a high. It’s the right decision and I wish the family a very happy retirement. It was an absolute pleasure to assist.”

Helen Wong also noted that “the day nursery market in the UK is experiencing an unprecedented level of deal activity with owners choosing to put their business up for sale post covid-19. Deals have included the sale of nursery groups, as well as single-site operators and the demand is strong with bidding wars between buyers on numerous transactions. With economic uncertainty, spiralling utility costs, staff shortages and the nervousness of a recession on the horizon the number of seller mandates seems to be on the increase. We would be pleased to assist any other nursery operators who are looking to exit as we are approached daily by all the big groups who have appetite to buy more day nurseries and continue their rapid expansion plans.”