To celebrate the launch, a party was held at the nursery in Wythenshawe, Manchester, with special guest children’s television presenter Nataylia Roni from the CBeebies show Boogie Beebies.
The setting is the first to be launched under The Co-operative Childcare brand, after the Midcounties Co-operative acquired the Buffer Bear chain in January (News, 12 January 2011).
The new combined group will operate a total of 29 nurseries across the country, offering more than 2,000 childcare places.
Linda Knight, group manager of childcare, said, ‘We have considerable experience running nurseries and we are delighted to be re-launching the Wythenshawe nursery with the Co-operative values of trust, honesty and openness.’
‘The nursery has received a facelift and we have replenished it with new equipment and resources as well as investing in the excellent staff at the nursery.’
‘We are especially looking forward to continuing to form strong links within the local community at Wythenshawe and working with the Forum Trust to support the area.’
The Co-operative Childcare is owned and operated by the Midcounties Co-operative, which started running nurseries under its original name, Imagine Co-operative Childcare, in 2003.