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The £2.5m facility from OakNorth will part-fund the acquisition and full refurbishment of a second freehold nursery site at Shooters Hill, Addington;
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The new site is approximately five miles from Abeona’s existing setting, and will have capacity for 100 children;
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The deal supports Abeona’s growth plans at a time of strong structural tailwinds for the sector, with the UK government’s phased expansion of funded childcare hours.
London, Monday 17th August, 2026: OakNorth, the digital bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs, has provided a £2.5m facility to
Abeona, an independent children’s daycare nursery operator based in Northamptonshire.
Abeona owns and operates Abeona Warkton, a nursery near Kettering, catering for children from under two years to five years old. The business has been built around a distinct, high-quality proposition – centred on outdoor learning, a swimming pool, and mini farm on site, as well as a deliberately homely environment that differentiates it from larger chain operators in the region. That model has delivered strong and consistent results: occupancy at the Warkton site has run at approximately 96–97% occupancy, with strong site-level EBITDA, well ahead of sector benchmarks. The business is managed by Khayam Ezzat, who oversees the commercial and financial side of the operation, alongside his business partner, Nikki White, who leads day-to-day childcare delivery and has prior experience running multi-site nursery operations.
The OakNorth facility will fund the acquisition and comprehensive refurbishment of a second site at Shooters Hill, Great Addington, approximately five miles from Warkton, where Abeona plans to open a 100-place nursery replicating the model it has successfully built at its existing setting. The transaction comes at a moment of sustained demand growth for quality early years provision, with the government’s expansion of funded childcare hours having extended entitlements to children from nine months in September 2024, and to up to 30 hours per week for eligible working parents from September 2025.
Khayam Ezzat, Director of Abeona Ltd, commented: “We’ve spent time getting Warkton to where it is – a genuinely well-run nursery that families in the area trust and that runs at very high occupancy. Taking that model to a second site was always part of the plan, and the Shooters Hill property is a great fit: a large building with plenty of outdoor space, close enough to Warkton that we can support it properly from day one. OakNorth took the time to understand what we’ve built and what we’re trying to do next. They got under the skin of the business quickly and structured something that works for us to support the next part of our growth journey.”
Dale Cowdell, Debt Finance Director at OakNorth, said: “Abeona is a really well-run business – the occupancy numbers at Warkton speak for themselves, and the quality of the offering Khayam and Nikki have built there is clear. What gives us confidence in this expansion is that the Shooters Hill site is designed to replicate a model that is genuinely proven in the local market, rather than introducing a new or untested approach. The catchment area is strong, the sector backdrop is supportive, and the team has both the operational experience and the financial commitment to see this through. We look forward to supporting them as they open the second site and continue to grow.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
About OakNorth
Launched in September 2015, OakNorth is the bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs. It was founded to address the persistent funding gap facing lower mid-market businesses (£1m-£100m turnover) – a segment that accounts for a significant share of economic output yet remains underserved by traditional banks.
To date, OakNorth has provided over £16bn in lending to thousands of entrepreneur-led businesses across the UK and US, supporting the creation of more than 70,000 jobs and generating more than $50bn in economic value. Throughout multiple economic cycles, the bank has maintained a highly disciplined approach to credit, delivering performance metrics that place it among the top 1% of commercial banks globally.
It is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.
Visit www.oaknorth.co.uk for more information.