From September the nursery group will be able to provide more than 240 childcare places in total.
Andrew Howarth, director of Paintpots, said, ‘Manchester City Council made the decision to exit childcare last year and opened a tender process for prospective parties. They had 27 settings to go for, we bid seriously for two and we won one.’
The nursery is expected to open in the last week of September, but a date has not yet been confirmed. The setting will offer childcare sessions and full days from 7.30 till 6pm.
‘There is some structural work to be done, as the open-plan nature of the premises currently does not work with our ethos. The other main work is the purchase and erection of outside play equipment, building an allotment and greenhouse for the growing of our own vegetables and also the re-development of our soft play areas,’ he added.
Paintpots currently employs 60 people and Mr Howarth is currently interviewing staff for the new nursery and hopes to offer jobs to a further 20 people when the setting is fully operational.
‘We are also looking to potentially open up a second city centre setting to complement our existing one, but we are struggling to find any suitable space,’ he said.
The nursery group acquired its first nursery in Manchester city centre in 2006 and its second setting in Hartford, Cheshire, in 2010.