- ICP Educare continues to deliver its targeted ‘’Buy and Build’’ of high quality Early Years schools – backed by OakNorth.
- OakNorth – the bank for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs – previously backed both ICP Nurseries in 2017 and Cresswell Nurseries in 2019 before their combination as ICP Education and sale to Oakley Capital IV in June 2021.
- ICP Educare initiated its Buy and Build strategy in February 2024 with the £6m acquisition of Phoenix Park Nurseries and invested a further £4m to acquire the Shotley Bridge Day Nursery and Poplars Blossoms, Nottingham later in that same year.
- ICP Educare has £10m of equity invested and was backed by OakNorth in the spring of 2025 with a £30m accordion facility – £13m of which was deployed in April 2025 to acquire Oxfordshire Nurseries and to refinance shareholder loans.
- The acquisition of The Woodlands Nursery draws down the next tranche of the facility as the Group’s growth continues apace.
Commenting on the transaction, Dominic Harrison MBE, Executive Chair of ICP Educare, said: “Our aim remains to create one of the leading Early Years providers in the £12bn fragmented market serving 1.6m children from 9 months to rising 5 years old.
The Woodlands Nursery is a strong addition to ICP Educare’s existing portfolio of nurseries. It provides high quality childcare for families in the local community, is managed by a long-standing, experienced team and operates from a large and well invested site. We are delighted to add the nursery to the Group today.
Following this acquisition, the Group will continue to deliver on its strategic ambitions. We have multiple further acquisitions in exclusivity which are expected to complete in the coming months – fully utilising the accordion facility agreed with OakNorth in the spring.
We value the bank’s continued support immensely and look forward to delivering on our proven business plan of adding value to strong nurseries through investment in quality in all that we do.”
Commenting on The Woodlands Nursery transaction and more widely, Stuart Blair – Director of Debt Finance at OakNorth said: “We were delighted to be offered the chance to once again work with Innervation Capital and Dominic and his team. Their proven track record on over 50 deals in this space gave us the confidence that ICP Educare could replicate the success we saw back in 2021 with ICP Education.
Since agreeing the £30m of Facilities with Innervation Capital in the spring of this year, it is great to see the targeted acquisition of both Oxfordshire Nurseries and now, The Woodlands Nursery by ICP Educare. We look forward to ICP Educare’s full deployment of the accordion facility over time.”
ENDS