Cripps advises on landmark nursery group sale

Cripps’ corporate team has advised on the sale of Footsteps Day Nurseries Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries to Family First Nursery Group.

Footsteps Day Nurseries operates 10 independent children’s day nurseries across the West Midlands and was founded in 2002 by Gavin Harvey. The group has grown considerably over the years and now offers care for over 800 children and has an annual income of over £9 million.

The business has now been purchased by Family First Nursery Group in one of the biggest independent nursery groups deals to be transacted over recent years.

The Cripps team, which was led by Julie Hughes and included Lauren Romo, Megan Pitt and Claire Durkin, advised on parts of the reorganisation of the group prior to the sale and all legal aspects of the transaction, working closely with Nick Brown at Christie & Co.

Founder and Managing Director of Footsteps Day Nurseries, Gavin Harvey, commented, “We’d taken the business as far as we could and knew that to grow it further would require substantial investment. We were delighted to choose Family First group whose strategy is to grow the Footsteps brand and number of settings and utilise the great Footsteps Nursery and Head Office support teams to continue to remain “One Step Ahead in Childcare”.

I was also delighted with the support of Julie Hughes and her team at Cripps who, due to their experience and expertise, made the often emotional and time consuming process of a business sale a more manageable and less stressful experience.”

If you would like details of other transactions the team has completed in the childcare sector, please contact Sam Jones.