Carole Melia originally bought Hop Scotch Day Nursery, inAshton-under-Lyne, in 1996, after hearing it would be closed unless anew owner could be found.
Another provider took over the running of the nursery in 2000 but MsMelia kept the building.
Now she is set to re-open the 80-place setting in May after a 250,000 refurbishment and rename it the Little Red Nursery. The previousoperator ran into financial difficulty and closed the nursery lastSeptember.
Ms Melia opened her first nursery, a 58-place setting called OllierHouse, in Manchester, after being made redundant while on maternityleave. In 1997 she bought a local school, Grafton House Preparatory, inAshton-under-Lyne, so that she could provide her son with the constantmedical supervision he needed when he started school.
She opened Grosvenor House Day Nursery in 2001, but had sold all of thebusinesses by 2004 so she could spend more time with her family.
However, last year she bought the Yellow Brick Road Day Nursery after ithad closed and re-opened it under the name of the Old Fire Station(News, 18 December 2008).
She also bought back Grafton House Preparatory School last May, when aparent contacted her to say the owner was having financial trouble.
Ms Melia said, 'I didn't plan to come back to the sector, but when Iheard about the Yellow Brick Road Day Nursery my children were older anddid not need me as much. When it came to buying back Hop Scotch DayNursery I already had two settings, so I thought to myself, why not?
'I just hope no-one else phones me to say they have a nursery indifficulty, as I find it hard to say no!'