Buckshaw Bunnies children’s nursery secures £50k loan
Buckshaw Bunnies Childcare was established in 2012 by Laura Ward and Annemarie Capper, who have more than 20 years’ experience working in childcare. In 2014, the business moved to Gelston Manor in Buckshaw Village and occupancy has grown to 99 children aged 0-5 years per day.
In 2018 the business secured a £980,000 funding boost from Santander to finance its expansion plans. It has now successfully secured a 25-year lease from Chorley Council for its second nursery at 90 Railway Road, Adlington, Chorley. This month, the £50k loan from Santander UK will enable Buckshaw Bunnies to make improvements to its new Little Manor Day Nursery at a time when many early years settings are facing challenges from coronavirus.
The funding will help to pay for building contractors as well as electrics and decoration at the new site. The project will secure 10 new jobs and will support the ongoing growth of the company helping it to promote its services and recruit from the local area. Ahead of its September opening, the nursery is hosting an open day on Saturday 29 August from 11am – 4pm with socially distanced tours of the new site. Regardless of whether you’re looking for childcare, everyone is welcome to attend and enjoy the opportunity for the local community and businesses to come together and have a little fun. Subject to government guidelines, there will be cake stall, ice cream van and a pizza van for all to enjoy. For more information on booking a tour please telephone the nursery on 01257 834444 or email: enquiries@littlemanordaynursery.co.uk.
Neil Ward, company secretary at Buckshaw Bunnies, commented: “We’re excited to be opening our second nursery with the support and funding from Santander. We’ve built a fantastic relationship with Chris, our relationship director, and as well as funding, the business support we’ve received has been extremely valuable.”
Chris Green, relationship director at Santander UK, commented: “This has been a challenging time for early years providers, so it’s fantastic to see Buckshaw Bunnies going from strength to strength. We’ve built a great understanding of the business, their expertise and aspirations and it’s fantastic to see all the hard work coming together.”
Santander UK has recently published research exploring the impact of the pandemic on businesses. The research revealed that a third of SME leaders feel anxious about the future of their business with only a fifth (19%) expecting to return to normal operating levels by the end of 2020 and almost a third (32%) by July 2021.
The majority (60%) of leaders at SMEs are worried about their ability to attract customers back as the economy re-opens, with nearly a fifth (18%) concerned about the level of investment in marketing needed to restore customer spending to pre-coronavirus levels.
Santander has launched a business support programme, ‘Survive and Revive’ designed to help businesses transition successfully out of the lockdown and ensure they have the capabilities and tools to prosper in a post-pandemic environment.
More information about Survive and Revive, including webinars and a list of other helpful resources is at www.santanderbreakthrough.co.uk/coronavirus.
