Daisy Chain Childrens Nursery

What Daisy Chain Childrens Nursery does

Daisy Chain Children's Nursery is a family-run early years childcare provider operating three nurseries in Leicestershire, England (Blaby, Wigston, and Whetstone), serving children from approximately 9 months to school age. The company is registered as Big Adventures Children's Nursery Ltd (England and Wales No. 06828393) and is jointly owned by Amanda and Ian Donkin, who acquired the Blaby site in April 2009 and the Wigston site in February 2012, with the Whetstone site opening in 2025. The business employs 38 colleagues across the three locations and accommodates a combined capacity of roughly 140+ children (72 at Wigston, 36 at Whetstone, with Blaby's capacity not explicitly disclosed). Both Blaby and Wigston have been graded 'Outstanding' by Ofsted multiple times, most recently in 2022, and the group holds Millie's Mark accreditation for 100% paediatric first aid training, 5-star environmental health ratings, and Healthy Tots accreditation.

The core offering is full-time and part-time day care (7:45am to 5:45pm, Monday to Friday) at £318 per week for full-time places, alongside government-funded 15-hour early education places for eligible 3+ year olds, single-day bookings at £71, and a £85 non-refundable registration fee. The service follows the statutory Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework and supplementary programmes such as Music Champions. There is no proprietary technology platform; the business runs on traditional in-person delivery, manual registration forms, and direct parent communication via phone, email, and website inquiries.

Revenue is generated entirely through parental fees and government-funded hour payments, collected monthly in advance via standing order. Distribution is direct-to-consumer: parents contact the nursery manager (e.g., Natalie Brotherwood at Blaby, Rachel Brewin at Wigston, Jade Donkin at Whetstone) to enrol. Demand generation relies on word-of-mouth referrals, public Ofsted reports, organic Instagram content, a downloadable brochure, and earned media (Leicestershire Live, Nursery World). The customer base is highly fragmented, comprising individual working families in the Leicestershire area seeking high-quality, regulated childcare.

Name

Daisy Chain Childrens Nursery

Legal name

Big Adventures Children's Nursery Ltd

Website

https://daisychainchildrensnursery.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Daisy Chain Children's Nursery is a family-run early years childcare provider operating three nurseries in Leicestershire, England (Blaby, Wigston, Whetstone), serving children aged 9 months to school age through full-time, part-time, and government-funded EYFS places, with 38 staff and multi-time Outstanding Ofsted ratings.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Childcare and Early Years Education Services

NAICS

Child Care Services (62441)

SIC

Services-Child Day Care Services (8351)

akta.pro primary industry

Full-Day Nursery Programs (EDACACAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Nursery School Programs (2–4 Years) (EDACACAB), Nursery School Readiness & Transition Programs (EDACACAL)

Keywords

• Children's nursery services
• Early years education
• Full day childcare
• Government funded childcare
• Family childcare

Headquarters

HQ city

Wigston

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Full-time Place: Weekly fee for full-time childcare from 7:45am to 5:45pm Monday to Friday, charged at £6.36 per hour on non-funded hours.
2. Single Day Care: Daily rate for individual days at £71 per day (£7.10 per hour on non-funded hours).
3. Meal Charges: Meal charges (breakfast, snacks, lunch, tea) applied against funded hours for children aged 3+. Breakfast £2.00, Snacks £1.00, 2-course lunch £5.00, 2-course tea £5.00.
4. Registration Fee: Non-refundable registration fee of £85.00 per child charged for families accessing full day care.
5. Government Funded Hours: Free childcare provision under government schemes - 3.5-hour sessions (8am to 11:30am, Monday to Friday) for eligible children. Subject to availability and terms.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Daisy Chain Children's Nursery provides full-time and part-time childcare and early years education for children aged approximately 9 months to school age across three nursery locations in Leicestershire. Services include government-funded early education places for eligible children aged 3 and over, structured EYFS-aligned learning, and additional programmes such as Music Champions. The business charges weekly childcare fees plus a one-off non-refundable registration fee, and offers a 10% sibling discount.

Product overview

Daisy Chain Children's Nursery operates as a unified childcare service across three physical locations (Blaby, Wigston, and Whetstone), providing full day care and government-funded early education places for children. The nursery offers a learning program based on the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), with additional programs including Music Champions. Blaby and Wigston have received Ofsted 'Outstanding' ratings, and the nursery holds Millie's Mark accreditation for paediatric first aid excellence.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Full Day Care Full-time and part-time childcare for children from approximately 9 months to school age, operating from 7.45am to 5.45pm Monday to Friday at £318 per week or £71 per single day. Delivered across three Leicestershire nursery locations with EYFS-aligned learning and qualified practitioners.
• Free Government-Funded Childcare Free childcare provision under UK government schemes providing 3.5-hour sessions from 8am to 11.30am Monday to Friday for eligible children aged 3 and over. Available subject to availability and terms; no registration fee applies.
• Music Champions Programme Music education initiative supporting early years musical development, recognised by the Music Champions programme with an evaluation report covering 2021-2022. Delivered as part of the nursery's enrichment activities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Outstanding Ofsted rating (third time, August 2022 - Blaby)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Busy Bees Childcare: Busy Bees operates a large network of UK day nurseries serving working families with childcare and early-years education. It is directly comparable to Daisy Chain on customer segment, physical nursery delivery, and fee-based recurring care.
• Tops Day Nurseries: Tops Day Nurseries provides day care and early-years education through a network of UK nursery settings. Its operating model, age range, and direct-to-parent service are closely aligned with Daisy Chain.
• N Family Club: N Family Club runs childcare nurseries and early-years programmes for families across the UK. It competes for the same parents and uses a similar full-day, physical-setting childcare proposition.
• The Old Station Nursery: The Old Station Nursery operates UK childcare settings for babies and young children, including full-day care and early-years learning. It is a relevant multi-site peer serving the same family market.
• Childbase Day Nurseries: Childbase is a UK operator of day nurseries and childcare settings for young children. Its multi-site early-years model and family customer base closely match Daisy Chain's core service.
• Puddleducks: Puddleducks provides nursery and early-years childcare for children from baby age through preschool. Its service proposition and family customer base overlap directly with Daisy Chain's childcare offering.

Broad incumbents

• Bright Horizons: Bright Horizons is an established childcare and early-education provider with a broader international platform. It is comparable through its nursery care, preschool education, and working-family customer proposition, but operates at substantially greater scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/daisychainchildrensnursery
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/daisy-chain-childrens-nursery

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Daisy Chain Childrens Nursery