In the last issue of Nursery Chains (4 November 2004) Nord Anglia had 9,833 places at 103 settings.
In a statement released at the company's annual general meeting last month the company said that occupancy levels in November and December remained 'stable year-on-year albeit below anticipated levels'. The company has also completed the reorganisation of its nursery businesses ahead of schedule, it added.
The statement continued, 'A sales and marketing strategy targeted at raising occupancy levels has been developed for each site and its implementation is now underway. When we update the market at the time of our interim results in May it should be apparent that these initiatives have impacted occupancy.'
At last month's AGM it was announced that Tracey Storey, who was previously operations director, had been promoted to the position of divisional managing director for the nursery side of the business.
Alan Kelsey, chairman designate, also announced that Kevin McNeany, who founded Nord Anglia in 1972 and had been chairman since flotation in February 1997, was leaving the company.
Commenting on Ofsted's annual report last week, Rosemary Murphy, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, said that occupancy levels were an issue.
'In areas outside London we hear that as many as 40 per cent of places remain empty. Unless we can tackle affordability we risk undermining the viability of the whole childcare initiative,' she said.