The group currently operates 25 nurseries across England and two out-of-school clubs, and has a number of new settings opening soon.
Mackenzie has more than 10 years’ experience in senior leadership roles in some of the UK’s largest nursery groups, most recently as chief strategy officer at N Family Club.
Prior to that she was quality and development manager at the Childbase Partnership for four years, and was also head of nurseries at Co-operative Childcare.
She is also a regular Nursery World columnist and winner of Nursery World Operations Manager of the Year in 2014.
Mackenzie said, 'I'm immensely excited to have joined Storal at such an important time. From my earliest conversations with Ash and Varun it was clear that our priorities are very aligned.
‘The way I have been welcomed into and connected with Storal is a credit to the culture and team they have built. The team have an ambitious vision for the next part of their story, and I'm honoured to lead them as we turn that vision into reality and write this next chapter together.’
Last week Storal completed on acquiring Nappies and Paddies nursery in Romford.
The group also has its first two new builds that are currently in their pre-opening phase in Banbury and Romford, plus a few acquisitions in the pipeline.
Storal Learning’s directors Varun Chanrai and Ashwin Grover said, ‘Insisting on the highest standards has been one of our core values at Storal since our founding days, as we recognise the duty we have to deliver exceptional experiences for all our children and to create workplaces where our colleagues can share their passions and grow as individuals.
‘In Sarah, we found an inspiring leader who strives for excellence, who wants to build on the components that make us unique and special, and who shares our bold ambitions for what Storal can achieve. With her impressive track record of success, Sarah is uniquely positioned to lead our teams in delivering on our ambitions, including raising the bar on early years quality, achieving high levels of employee engagement, and bringing Storal to more children, families and employees. We are incredibly excited for what lies ahead.’