Our Story
Our Story
We are committed to putting children first and providing a safe and nurturing environment where they can learn and develop since 2001.
Our History
Since our foundation, we have acquired some fantastic groups of nurseries, as well as high-quality, independent nurseries. Now we are uniting all our nurseries in Scotland and North-West England under four Thrive groupings. Holyrood, Happitots and Corner House Nurseries are joined by our new Nature Kindergarten which reflects our vision and ethos to develop children’s outdoor learning.
- 46 nurseries across the UK
- 1000+ Thrive Childcare and Education colleagues
- 4000+ families in our care
Our First Step
Foundation of our company with the purchase of Strawberry Hill Nursery in Scotland.
2001
Bertram Nursery
The Group was founded, bringing together Happitots Day Nurseries and Strawberry Hill Nursery based in Scotland.
2007
Hello Northern England
Holyrood group of nurseries in Northern England joins us.
2008
Oranges and Lemons
Oranges and Lemons, Dundee-based nurseries, joined our group.
2014
Our Family is Growing
We welcomed Buoys and Gulls Nursery, Corner House Day Nursery, and Loretto Nursery in our family. Cary Rankin joins Bertram Nursery Group.
2015
NMT Awards 2018
We won NMT Nursery Group of the Year in Scotland and Day Nurseries Top 20 Nursery Group in the UK.
2018
Expanding Our Vision
We joined forces with Apiary Capital.
2019
Scotland Family
Enchanted Forest Nurseries and Paint Pots Nursery joins our team in Scotland.
2019
Hello Smarties
Ofsted Outstanding nursery near Chester that won the NMT UK Nursery of the year award in 2018 joins our group taking our number to 37 settings across the UK.
2021
Thrive Childcare and Education
We changed our name to Thrive Childcare and Education because that’s exactly what we’re all about: helping our children, teams and communities to thrive.
2021
Hello Village Nursery Group
February 2022 highly rated nursery group, Village Nurseries, becomes a part of Thrive Childcare and Education.
2022
Thrive welcomes Frodsham nursery
May 2022 the wonderful nursery, Homestead, in the lovely area of Frodsham, Cheshire, has become a part of the Thrive family. We now have 46 nurseries across England and Scotland
2022
Bennison Nursery
Based in Chester we are thrilled Bennison joined Thrive in June 2022 becoming our 47th Nursery.
Read more at Nursery Management Today (nmt-magazine.co.uk)
2022
Culcheth Nursery
Culcheth Nursery joins Thrive in July 2022.
Day Nursery acquired by Thrive | Chester and District Standard (chesterstandard.co.uk)
2022
Tots n Tykes Nursery
Tots n Tykes Nursery joins Thrive in Late July 2022, our first Yorkshire nursery.
Thrive Childcare and Education buys first Yorkshire day nursery setting
2022
Thrive Starts Here!
In 2019, following a successful management buyout with Apiary Capital, with funds in place and plans to grow our estate nationally, we set about a programme of investment: in training our colleagues, our nursery environments, systems and technology to help us communicate better with parents.
One major area of improvement was to our outdoor environments and our use of natural and open-ended resources. This is at the heart of our vision to support children to learn, to become more independent and to develop their social skills. It responds to the need to create a more sustainable world for them to grow up in.
Thrive Community
We are still on our journey to enhance our nursery environments and ensure our teams have the training, skills and opportunities to grow with us and be at the core of the friendly, safe and supportive culture that helps every child to thrive. We want our colleagues to choose Early Years education as a rewarding career with prospects for development.
We also recognise the vital importance of providing a service that meets parents’ needs.
That means being open earlier or later to recognise local working patterns and support our NHS and emergency service workers. It means providing wrap-around services to accommodate older children before or after school and during the holidays.
It means providing freshly cooked meals on-site, where our chefs can safely manage and respond to children’s allergies and/or dietary requirements.
And, above all, it means recognising that nurseries are part of the local communities they serve. While our commitment to high standards won’t vary, we will celebrate the local identities of our individual nurseries and recognise that one-size definitely doesn’t fit all.
Philosophy and Values
At Thrive Childcare and Education, we know childhood is a treasured time. We believe it is our responsibility to provide environments and experiences that capture the joys of childhood.