Just one week after Nursery Chains was published last November the merger of Asquith Nurseries and Kidsunlimited, two of the largest nursery groups in the UK and Ireland, was called off at the final hour.
If the deal had gone ahead the new company, the Nursery Years Group, would have been the UK and Ireland's largest chain.
We ran an updated version of the league table that week (Nursery World, 11 November 2004), returning Nord Anglia to the top spot.
Six months on, Nord Anglia is still the clear market leader with 9,736 places. Asquith Nurseries remains its nearest rival and stays in second position with 6,466 places. However, despite the fact that Nord Anglia is nearly one-third larger in terms of places, both groups have just over 100 settings each. Kidsunlimited is at number five with 4,307 places and 46 nurseries.
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