Privately owned nursery bought by a chain - what to expect?

[TigerBear1]

My LO’s nursery has just been bought by a chain (Kids Planet). They’ve settled so well, they’ve been there for about 6 months and it’s been lovely. We’ve been told staffing will remain the same but I’m very wary of this change.
Has anyone experienced this situation and can share their experiences?

Just bumping this for the evening crowd.

Kids planet bought out my ds nursery over a year ago, my older ds went there when it was the previous owners so we have been there since 2019. Higher staff turnover and higher fees within a few months, though they did fully refurbish the play rooms and kitchen facilities recently. Menu changed and it's very varied but wasn't to his taste, they never seemed to have a desert or pudding, just yogurt! I think all nurseries are different and I'm sure it will be fine.

Staff turnover is a big concern of mine - they have all said they’re staying put but that could change very quickly.

Oh no. My nursery was taken over by kids planet. I lasted 6 more months then left as it was awful. We were told nothing would change, but the whole ethos changed. They bought all new equipment for our rooms, and promised us ther was loads of money to put into the nursery, but non of it came to fruition. We had to start wearing uniform, and the area manager who was supposed to get us through the transition was awful. No one felt supported. They moved the staff around in the rooms, created more rooms which didn’t really work. The menu change was the worst. We went from lovely, healthy home cooked meals to processed yogurt, and slop. There was never enough food, and snack changed from something substantial to just fruit.

A lot of people have left, but a lot of people also stayed as they put our wages up. It’s put me off childcare for life. I couldn’t give the care the children deserved as I didn’t know if I was coming or going in the end. I also pulled my child out as didn’t want her there without me.

And the acquisition took months. So many false starts. We asked for them to just start making the changes in the end as we were in limbo with limited contact. Lots of things changed. How the children were put to sleep changed which completely threw the little ones.

This happened to our lovely private nursery a year or so ago, and I did feel a bit concerned like you. Again like pp I'd had an elder child go through the same nursery so knew it well. The feel of it has changed a little over that time but not too much, management stayed the same which helped. Some staff turnover but I wouldn't say too much greater rates than in previous years. Fees went up but all coincided with the new free hours so everywhere has been jacking up prices like crazy so making it hard to say if takeover was a factor. Menus changed a bit, but not too drastic. In all I am glad we are there, it's still been a good fit for DC2, albeit with a slight loss of the some of the unique character it had when DC1 started. I would say if your DC is settled no sense in moving as in our experience it did not change things so greatly.

Menu changes would worry me - we have allergies to contend with!
How did they change the sleep routines?

Thank you - this is reassuring.

No more cuddling to sleep which was really difficult for the babies who were new or used to it. Children have to sleep head to toe next to eachother, so no more snuggling into their friends. The children all had to wait at the table until everyone was finished which didn’t really work as it meant we were trying to put them to sleep all at once rather than a couple at a time as and when they had finished eating. Also, the children were no longer allowed to take their own meal to the bin and scrape it into the food waste, a member of staff had to do it, which felt like a massive step back in regard to independence