Wed, 19 Nov 2025 | BUSINESS NEWS
Happy Day Nurseries, a South West-based provider of early years childcare which is backed by private equity firm Zetland Capital Partners, has secured a £30 million loan from OakNorth to support its buy-and-build growth strategy.
Happy Day Nurseries, which is based in Newquay, currently operates 36 nurseries across the South of England and Wales, employing more than 1,230 staff and caring for over 3,000 children aged from three months to five years each day.
The company, which was founded in 1991, secured backing from Zetland in 2022, when the private equity firm acquired a majority stake in the business. The new funding from OakNorth will help the company use M&A to execute its aim of doubling in size over the coming years.
Happy Day Nurseries is initially seeking to grow its portfolio to 43 sites by early 2026, with a long-term vision of reaching 60-80 nurseries in the coming years. The company’s buy-and-build strategy most recently saw it acquire 71-place Gloucestershire setting Edward Bears Nursery.
In the year to December 31 2024, Happy Days Day Nurseries Limited reported turnover of £16.9 million, up from £11.5 million a year earlier, while operating profit rose from around £463,000 to £3.3 million.
Toni Kilby, Chief Financial Officer at Happy Days Nurseries, said: "The OakNorth team quickly got to grips with our operating model and growth ambitions, and their commercial, collaborative approach helped us develop a facility that’s structured for scale."
Kilby added that OakNorth had marked themselves out as an ideal bank for high-growth businesses in “a highly competitive market”, being “responsive, strategic, and relationship-led.”
Deepesh Thakrar, Managing Director of Debt Finance at OakNorth, commented: "Happy Days is a standout operator in the UK childcare sector - high-quality, well-run, and delivering on its ambition to build a scaled, high-performing early years education platform. The management team has a clear strategy, and with Zetland’s backing, they’re executing it with discipline and pace.”
"The recent acquisition of Edward Bears Nursery in Gloucestershire reflects the group’s continued commitment to quality, scale, and integration efficiency. We’re pleased to support them with a flexible facility that provides certainty and room to grow."
Zetland Capital Partners CFO Zulfi Ali said that the firm’s investment in Happy Days was underpinned by a vision to create “a clear vision to build a market-leading platform in the UK’s early years sector - one that combines educational quality with operational excellence.”
Ali continued: “Delivering on that vision requires partners who not only understand the sector but also the realities of scaling a high-growth business. OakNorth has proven to be just that. The team brings a refreshingly pragmatic approach to lending - commercial, fast-moving, and deeply engaged with the long-term plan."
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