Kids Planet secures £6.5m follow-on funding

Family-owned, fast-growth nursery group Kids Planet has received an additional £6.5m investment from BGF to spearhead further expansion and open more sites.

Since BGF’s initial investment in 2016, the Greater Manchester-headquartered business has expanded to 38 sites across the North of England and Midlands. With a strong foothold in the North West since opening its first two nurseries in Widnes and Warrington, Kids Planet opened its first site outside the region in April this year with sights set on growing the company’s geographical footprint further. A new purpose-built nursery will open in Worsley in Summer 2019. BGF has now invested £23m into the company with an initial £10m and a further £6.5m in 2018.

The investment has supported acquisitions, nursery fit-outs and will now see new developments. Kids Planet’s model centres around early-years care based around creative play, nutritional meals and educational support. Last financial year (March 2019) the business reported £21m in sales. The group provides nursery care and education to 5,000 children and currently holds 20 Ofsted Outstanding ratings.

Clare Roberts, Kids Planet CEO, said: “Our goal is to provide outstanding early years education to as many children as possible across the North. With BGF’s backing, we’ve been able to accelerate the roll-out of our business while remaining focused on providing an exceptional care and facilities.”

Pinesh Mehta, an investor at BGF, added: “Kids Planet has performed consistently well as a business because of the high standards the team holds. Since embarking on this journey with Clare and John, Kids Planet has gone from strength-to-strength and it’s fantastic to be providing further funding for the next phase of expansion.”

BGF’s North West team has invested £250m since 2011 across 28 deals in the region. Recent investments include: Mission Mars which is behind hospitality brands such as Rudy’s Pizza and Albert’s Schloss, bakery business St Pierre Group, and fintech company, Planixs.