Fast growing rural towns face potential childcare crisis

Newgrove recently conducted research and analysed the supply of nurseries across the UK. This information was then matched against local demand for places and we had very interesting results. The data showed that many fast-growing rural towns simply do not have enough childcare places for the growing population.

Actually, up to 40% of families are struggling to find the childcare they need, and our analysis shows these trends have been accelerated by the Covid19 crisis.  

At Newgrove, we have mapped every one of 12,934 nurseries in the UK and compared  their distribution with the local population in 14,158 locations. By comparing the population of 0-5 year-olds with the availability of nursery places we were able to analyse how childcare supply and demand varies across the UK.

Huge variations in supply across the UK

Our work revealed stark contrasts across the country ranging from high levels of childcare place availability in regions such as the Home Counties, North Yorkshire and Norfolk to areas of real child-care challenge to be found in South Wales, Nottinghamshire and the North-East.

The impact of home working

An increase in home working has also led to parents increasingly looking for nursery places closer to home. This has been exacerbated by the desire of many people to move to more rural locations as they spend more time working from home. We can also analyse other relevant factors such as population growth and the propensity of parents to need childcare based on the type of job they do.

All these pressures have combined to highlight the level of challenge there is with pre-school childcare places in some of our more established rural towns.

So where are the Top 5 places to open a nursery?

Challenge also represents opportunity. Therefore, for those nursery groups looking to expand we can reveal the top 5 locations where the supply of child day-care is vastly outstripped by the growth of the local pre-school population.

At Newgrove we are experts in helping our Nursery and Day Care clients find new sites for expansion.  

Our top 5 comprise locations that we believe could represent opportunity for you as the number of pre-school children competing for every nursery place is remarkably high.

1.  Bridgend in South Wales with 2,400 pre-schoolers for every nursery location.
2. March in Cambridgeshire with 2,200 pre-schoolers for every nursery location.
3. Goole in East Yorkshire with 2,150 pre-schoolers for every nursery location.
4. Biggleswade in Bedfordshire with 2,075 pre-schoolers for every nursery place.
5. Abergavenny in Monmouthshire with 1,640 pre-schoolers for every nursery location.

As you can see opportunity can be found in the most surprising of locations. Therefore, it is vitally important that when identifying locations for expansion you look at patterns in the local population to understand market demand.

At Newgrove, we are here to support you. With our award cloud-based location planning tool Periscope® we can help you precisely and cost effectively determine the next set of locations for you to expand your business.  If you would like to know more about our research or how we can help your business, then please get in touch with me.