First Steps Children's Nurseries has opened the 113-place nursery in theNorthfield area of Birmingham to cater for demand. It has been turningaway children from its other fully-subscribed Birmingham nursery inHarborne, which is just two-and-a-half miles away.
The group now offers a total of 223 childcare places, including a50-place nursery at Wolverhampton.
Owner Debbi Gould said there had been 'an upturn' in the business asmore mothers return to work earlier as a result of the recession.
She said, 'This is reflected in the fact that our nurseries are lookingafter younger babies than ever before.
'We are delighted to be in a position to expand our business. We've justopened and we have 35 children already registered. We have lots ofbookings already and are recruiting staff.'
The nursery is on the former Rathvilly School site, an independentschool that went into liquidation last October. A school first opened onthe site 140 years ago.
'We were very lucky,' said Ms Gould. 'The site had planning permissionfor 37 houses and the building was going to be demolished, but we madean offer and bought it.
'We've refurbished everything, and put in new toilets and flooring. Wedug up the tarmac playground and now have a brand new play area.'
The nursery is housed on the ground floor and there is space to expandon the second storey which is currently empty.
The old school hall has been kept. 'We've carpeted the stage, sochildren can play on it, and kept the lighting for nursery productions,'said Ms Gould.
The school grounds are extensive and the outdoor play area now boasts awooden fort, pirate galleon (pictured), a beach and even somechickens.
Joyce Fereday, a former head teacher at the school, attended theofficial opening with her son Steven, who was a pupil at the school inthe 1960s.
She said, 'When I heard that the school might be demolished, I wasabsolutely devastated and thought it was such a waste. I'm so thrilledthat the building is going to be filled with children once again.'