What happens when a nursery setting changes owner?
At daynurseries.co.uk, our default approach is that when a nursery setting changes ownership, the existing profile’s content, reviews, and relevant awards will continue under the new owners.
This is because there is generally continuity in the underlying service. In most cases, the service continues at the same location, with continuity of staff, children attending the nursery and day-to-day care.
We therefore believe it is beneficial for parents and families to continue to have access to the profile’s content, reviews, and relevant awards.
Where content or reviews refer to a previous owner’s name, we may anonymise those references where appropriate.
This approach also applies to reviews submitted after the ownership change, where the review relates to care provided before the change. We assess these reviews using the same continuity and fairness criteria, rather than the date the review was submitted.
What happens when two nursery settings merge?
When two nursery settings merge, our default policy is that reviews and awards do not transfer from a setting that is closing to a different setting.
This is because there is not usually sufficient continuity of the underlying service where childcare is being provided from a different location. At daynurseries.co.uk, reviews and awards are attached to the setting itself.
What happens to awards?
Individual awards
Where the service continues at the same nursery setting and the profile’s reviews remain with the profile, individual awards will also remain with that profile.
Group awards
Where one nursery group acquires another, group-level awards associated with the acquired group will not transfer to the acquiring group.
What happens to the subscription?
When a nursery setting changes ownership, the subscription for that setting ends.
A new subscription would need to be arranged separately if required.
What happens if a nursery setting closes and later reopens?
If a nursery closes and later reopens, our default approach is that the profile's content, reviews and relevant awards remain where there is sufficient continuity in the underlying service.
A temporary closure, refurbishment, change of ownership or new regulatory registration will not, by itself, mean that previous reviews and awards are removed.
However, where the previous service has ceased operating and a substantially new service later opens at the same setting, previous reviews and awards may be removed from the current profile where they no longer fairly represent the service being provided.
When considering whether there is sufficient continuity, we may take into account factors including the length and circumstances of the closure, continuity of children, staff and management, regulatory registration, changes to the nature or capacity of the service, and significant refurbishment or operational changes.
No single factor will normally determine the outcome. Our overall consideration is whether the previous reviews continue to fairly represent the nursery service currently operating at the setting.