A day nursery which was launched in 2012 has been sold to an operator which has more than 190 settings across the UK.

The Ofsted ‘Good’-rated Nurture Me Day Nursery in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, caters for 106 children, as well as operating an out-of-school and holiday club for 25 youngsters.

It was first opened in 2012 by Gill Masters and Helen Smith, who announced their plans to retire.

The nursery has now been purchased by Kids Planet Day Nurseries following a confidential sales process led by David Eaves at Christie & Co.

Clare Roberts, chief executive at Kids Planet Day Nurseries, said: “The nursery fits well into the Kids Planet family, coming with a well-established leadership team and a highly-qualified workforce.

“Nurture Me expands our offering in Leicestershire, and we are excited to support the whole team and families moving forward.”

Eaves added: “I originally met Gill back in late 2021 and we had discussed sale options at that point. It was clear that there was a fantastic underlying business that simply needed a little time to recover from the pandemic for them to achieve the right value.

“Having now got the business to an enviable level of occupancy and profitability, it was the perfect time for them to realise the benefit of their hard work.

“Using our sector experience and deep market knowledge we were able to secure multiple offers in a short space of time and achieve a completion only six weeks from agreeing terms.

“We continue to see an exceptional level of demand for high-quality childcare businesses across the East Midlands from a range of buyers.

“And, with demand outstripping supply in the current market, this creates an excellent opportunity for nursery owners to maximise the value they can achieve in a sale process.”