A childcare group that runs three nurseries in the north-east aims to raise £3million through the issue of an unusual crowdfunded “mini-bond”.
Bertram Nursery Group is targeting the parents and grandparents of tots who attend its 37 nurseries across Scotland and England, offering them a chance to buy Bertram Bonds on a first-come, first-served basis.
The bond is being launched through the crowdfunding platform Crowdcube. And while the usual caveats about the risks of investing in bonds apply, the Edinburgh-based childcare firm has pledged pay out a fixed rate of return of 8% per annum, with a 5% discount off all childcare fees at any Bertram nursery for the eldest child or grandchild of any bondholder.
The company runs the Cove Bay Kindergarten in Cove, the Celtic Cross Nursery in Banchory and recently acquired the Buoys and Gulls Nursery in Peterhead.
The funds raised through the crowdfunded bond issue will be added to the £3.5million in debt finance it secured from Rockpool Investments, which advises high-net worth individuals on tax-efficient investments.
Bertram plans to use the funds to continue to to acquire new nurseries and upgrade existing sites and facilities to increase capacity. The firm said it has a “healthy pipeline” of potential acquisitions and planned improvements in place to make quick progress over the next 12 twelve months.
Bertram has grow from a single nursery in 2002 to a business with over 630 staff offering nearly 3,000 places for children across Scotland and in Manchester and Liverpool. Bertram is currently the 8th largest nursery chain in the UK with an annual turnover of over £14million.
Graeme Scott, the chief executive of Bertram, said its business approach allowing each nursery in the group is run as a semi-autonomous business was beneficial to its growth. Different nurseries offer a range of services from yoga classes to picking up drycleanining for parents.
He said: “A lot of the bigger private equity-backed nursery groups are run to a clearly defined formula and the nurseries are a homogenised brand. Bertram takes a different approach believing that the nurseries are there to serve local communities and each one needs investment in care, teaching, staff training and IT tailored to suit the needs of its own community.
“I believe this is the secret to our ongoing growth. We have excellent and committed local management teams committed to constantly improving the services at our nurseries. Owners have trusted Bertram knowing that when they sell to us we will preserve all the good things about the nursery they have built up and keep the staff – all we will do is provide further enhancement to create an even better environment which combines education and social development for the children in our care.”