Former Orchard Day Nursery reopens its doors as Fun Frogs Day Nursery

The former Orchard Day Nursery sits next to the soon-to-be-completed Manchester Airport Relief Road, is accessible to the nearby motorway and within walking distance to Wilmslow Train Station. The unique site is approximately half an acre, comprising of three separate properties, five individual ample sized gardens and play areas, and a spacious car park. Previously running with effective operating capacity for 52 children, the Orchard Day Nursery closed its doors in April 2017 as the former tenant’s lease came to an end.

The owners and landlords of the site saw huge benefit in keeping the premises as a children’s day nursery, not only for the contribution to the local community, but also for the strong covenant which is typically secured by a nursery operator tenant. This impressive site gained a high level of interest due to its affluent location and convenient positioning.

Despite huge interest and numerous offers for the opportunity, Christie & Co was able to match the landlord, Lee Harrison and Naomi Richardson, Director of Fun Frogs Day Nursery Ltd together as the most suitable fit. After having run her own successful local nursery business for ten years, Naomi had been searching widely for alternative premises for her nursery, which would have been forced to close at the end of 2017. Both parties have already built an excellent relationship with the landlords, undergoing substantial renovations in a very short time frame to enable Fun Frogs to open for the deadline date of early January 2018.

Mr Harrison comments; “My nursery buildings were leased very quickly with significant interest generated in a matter of a few days, I am extremely grateful to Sofia Beck of Christie & Co, who was aware that we were considering a lease option only and managed to introduce a number of nursery providers that gave me underlying confidence to move forward with and invest for the future.

“Sofia provided sound commercial advice and assistance going the extra mile to manage legal and commercial issues to resolution mindful that the transaction including significant renovation work needed to be undertaken within a very tight timeline from the start and took less than three months to complete. My decision to lease the site as opposed to considering redevelopment opportunities was made so much easier through Sofia's ability to direct me to the right long term nursery partner.”

Ms Richardson of Fun Frogs comments; "Upon my first visit to the Nursery and meeting Sofia and Lee, I knew the site was where the future of Fun Frogs should be. The buildings had so much to offer and the outdoor space had great potential. With the threat of closure from our old site due to the owner’s own development plans, things needed to move fast which both Sofia and Lee understood and met these tight timescales with great professionalism and sound advice throughout. The building has now undergone a large refurbishment and has a lovely, new modern look.

“I’m extremely thankful to Sofia for all her help during the process and very happy with the outcome. We look forward to a successful future at our new location.”

Sofia Beck, Business Agent at Christie & Co handled the disposal and comments; “I am delighted to have been able to assist with this transaction and feel that it has been an excellent result for both the landlords and the tenant. I am convinced that Ms Richardson will continue to grow her success of Fun Frogs Day Nursery Ltd and feel that the new location will be a huge driver for this.

“It’s very apparent that there is a vast level of unsatisfied demand for children’s day nursery sites in Cheshire and South Manchester. The response which we received for this opportunity was very interesting and this intensity of interest is generally how higher sale prices are achieved, thus indicating that now really is a good time to sell.”