Kids Planet adds more than 1,500 jobs as childcare giant’s turnover passes £100m
Kids Planet added over 1,500 employees during a year in which the childcare giant’s turnover surged past the £100m mark, it has been revealed.
The Cheshire-headquartered company increased its headcount to 3,975 in the 12 months to March 31, 2023, while its turnover went from £66.3m to £108m.
Kids Planet also increased the number of sites it operates from 108 to 156 in the year. The number of nurseries it ran stood at 52 in March 2021.
However, despite the rise in turnover, the company fell from making a pre-tax profit of £1.9m to a loss of £5.9m.
The business, which has sites in the North West, Midlands, Yorkshire and the South East, was established in 2008 by Clare Roberts and her father John Hoban.
It has been owned by European investment firm Fremman Capital since November 2021.
‘Commitment to unwavering high-quality childcare’
A statement signed off by the board said: “Management of the impact of inflation and the cost-of-living challenges on the group’s trading activity has been a key objective during the financial year.
“Additionally, a key focus has been in attracting and retaining nursery colleagues, against the backdrop of recruitment challenges that the sector has experienced.
“Throughout the period, maintaining excellent quality childcare has been of paramount importance.”
Kids Planet added: “A commitment to unwavering high-quality childcare is a key focus of the group, whilst increasing the number of operational settings, to ensure that kids Planet values are maintained as the group continues to grow.”
During the year the group completed the sale and leaseback of 43 properties in deals with Alpha Real Capital for proceeds of £38.3m which were used to acquire further sites.
Following the end of March 2023, the group completed 9 acquisitions while in October 2023 the shareholders injected an extra £22m to further support future acquisitions.