Opening a childcare franchise is a great opportunity because the childcare sector has proven year after year to be one of the most stable and in demand sectors. The sector is robust and whilst it has it’s challenges, it is sought after as an investment opportunity from individuals as well as private equity and other funding houses.

Monkey Puzzle are the undisputed market leader in the franchised nursery sector and the third largest nursery group overall in the U.K. Pioneers in what we do, we were the first to franchise day nurseries aiming to help people contribute to communities through business. Even now as one of the largest nursery groups we have retained our core family values.

On March 17th 2002, Monkey Puzzle Day Nurseries launched their very first childcare setting in Hertfordshire. For owners Mark and Rebecca Crosby it was the beginning of a hugely successful journey into the day nurseries industry. Monkey Puzzle now has well over 60 childcare nursery settings across the UK.

David Hancock, Executive Chairman ”We’ve been given a fantastic foundation from our founders, Mark and Rebecca Crosby. Being the first franchised day nurseries business in the UK means that we’ve been established for over 15 years as a franchisor and continue to move forwards at pace, growing the team and bringing breadth to our overall offering.”

Support is there for you throughout, Grace Cole, Franchise Director states “The Franchising Team will be your initial point of contact on your journey to opening a nursery. We begin with an initial telephone call and presentation meeting and then once you are part of the Monkey Puzzle family, the Franchising Team will help you with everything ‘business start-up’ related as well as Early Years specific expertise and training. We have an expert on hand to assist will all stages of this process; property acquisition and negotiation, market analysis, bespoke financial forecasting and nursery design and fit out.”

As members of the British Franchising Association (BFA), we are dedicated to fostering ethical franchising practices in the UK.

The BFA plays a crucial role in promoting ethical franchising by supporting industry research and development, enhancing marketing efforts and educating the public about franchise models and organisations. They also develop industry qualifications and accreditations, such as the Qualified Franchise Professional (QFP) qualification, and organise nationally recognised seminars and training for franchise professionals. Additionally, the BFA presents national awards and continuously updates benchmarks of quality and ethical practice to ensure ongoing success for members and affiliates.

The BFA’s code of ethics, based on the European Code of Ethical Franchising, is the only recognised standard for ethical franchising in the UK. We ask all franchisees to review the BFA code of ethics to understand the expectations from us as the franchisor and you as the franchisee.

BFA Code of Ethics 2024

To franchise with Monkey Puzzle you will need upwards of £100k of liquid capital to invest in the business with our funding business partners supporting the rest of the requirement. The level of investment is very much down to the individual properties and opportunities that arise, but we’ll work with you to maximise the opportunity.

You don’t need to be an Early Years expert or have experience in the childcare sector, however this obviously helps. We have franchisees from all walks of life and backgrounds with the binding factor of wanting to own and run their own business in partnership with the knowledge and expertise from a national brand.