Great Yarmouth Community Trust nursery chain goes into liquidation

Some 450 families face having to find a new nursery, after the Great Yarmouth Community Trust went into liquidation

A chain of children's nurseries and day centres has gone into liquidation, leaving 136 staff facing redundancy.

Up to 450 families will be affected by the closure of the Great Yarmouth Community Trust, which ran eight facilities across Norfolk and Suffolk.

Administrators said the trust had "serious financial difficulties" and stopped trading on Wednesday.

Norfolk and Suffolk county councils are working to reopen the nurseries or provide alternative arrangements.

Andrew Forrest, executive director of the Great Yarmouth Community Trust, apologised for the "disruption and uncertainty" caused to families and staff.

"In recent years we have been experiencing financial difficulties and it has now become clear that our business is no longer viable," he said.

"We have been working with insolvency experts and Norfolk County Council to do all we can to minimise the impact for those who use or visit our services."

The trust's nurseries are:

• Calthorpe Nursery, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk

• Little Blossoms Nursery, Filby, Norfolk

• Ladybird Day Care at Kirkley Children's Centre, Lowestoft, Suffolk

• Little Ducks Day Nursery, Lowestoft

• Peggotty Nursery, Great Yarmouth

• Priory Day Nursery, Great Yarmouth

• Seagulls Day Nursery, Gorleston, Norfolk

• Willow Day Nursery, Great Yarmouth

It also runs two educational facilities - the independent school Horatio House in Lowestoft and Nexus Engineering in Gorleston - which have also closed.

The Little People's Montessori nursery in Norwich, a subsidiary of the trust, is not affected.

Norfolk County Council said it was stepping in because the trust was responsible for such a high proportion of nursery places in Great Yarmouth. It will also provide tutors to the 19 pupils at Horatio House.

Lee Green of liquidators MHA Larking Gowen said the liquidation process at the trust would begin in the next two weeks.

Web pages providing information for parents have been set up by the two councils in Norfolk and Suffolk.

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