Bright Horizons Acquires Teddies Nurseries from Bupa

RUSHDEN, England - Two of the UK’s leading providers of quality early years programming join forces

Bright Horizons Family Solutions LLC, the world’s leading provider of employer-sponsored child care and early education, back-up care, and work/life solutions, today announced that it has acquired Teddies Nurseries from Bupa, bringing together two nursery providers committed to offering high-quality child care and early years education for children and working families in the UK. This combination creates the largest network of nurseries in the UK.

“Teddies Nurseries have a strong reputation for their commitment to programme excellence making them a perfect fit to join our network of nurseries in the UK. We share a common philosophy that providing excellent child care requires a steadfast commitment to continuous quality improvement and to attracting and retaining an engaged and passionate workforce,” said Bright Horizons Managing Director Stephen Kramer. “This combination is a natural next step in our journey as a leader and innovator within the early years community. We are proud to welcome Carole Edmond, the Managing Director of Teddies Nurseries, as well as all of the nursery staff, children and families to the Bright Horizons family.”

“Teddies is an excellent business with a highly-motivated and well-trained team providing high-quality childcare. We believe that it has a greater opportunity to continue to grow and thrive as part of a group whose core business and focus is child care and early years education,” said Managing Director of Bupa Care Services, Mark Ellerby. “Bright Horizons(R) share a similar outlook and values to Teddies. The company is committed to the same long-term goals of providing quality, individually-tailored childcare.”

Bright Horizons Family Solutions, founded in 1986, is highly respected for an unwavering commitment to quality and as an employer of choice in the field. Bright Horizons has been selected by the Great Place To Work Institute and the Financial Times as one of the 50 Best Workplaces in the UK, is one of the Irish Independent’s “Best Companies to Work for” and is one of Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work for in America.” It currently operates more than 110 nurseries across the UK and Ireland, serving more than 7,000 families. In addition to its local nurseries, which all reflect the children and families who are part of the nurseries, Bright Horizons also partners with many high-profile UK employers, including the Ministry of Defence, Deutsche Bank and Pfizer to provide bespoke worksite child care and work/life solutions.

Since acquiring 18 Teddies nurseries in 2000, Bupa has grown the business into one of the most reputable providers and the nurseries, which now number 32, care for more than 3,000 children and babies. Bright Horizons intends to maintain all of the nursery teams as part of Bright Horizons so that families can continue to receive the loving care and support of the caregivers they have come to know and trust. Bupa and Bright Horizons are committed to working closely together to ensure a smooth handover for Teddies employees, and the children and families for whom they care.

Bright Horizons strives to work in partnership with parents in providing care and education for each child and we will continue that with the Teddies Nurseries. Bright Horizons will operate the nurseries as it does each of its programmes, according to the highest standards of excellence within the framework of the Early Years Foundation Stage and as regulated by Ofsted.

About Bright Horizons Family Solutions(R)

Bright Horizons Family Solutions(R) (www.brighthorizons.co.uk) specialises in managing high-quality nurseries that meet the needs of working families and provides work/life consulting services to employers throughout the UK, Ireland and the US. Bright Horizons has been operating in the UK and Ireland since 2000 and has more than 100 nurseries. Bright Horizons has been named by the Financial Times and Great Place to Work Institute as one of the top 50 Best Workplaces in 2006, 2007, and 2008 and was the only nursery provider with this distinction. The organization was founded in the US in 1986 and is the world’s leading provider of employer-sponsored child care, serving more than 700 clients worldwide, including more than 95 of the FORTUNE 500 and 75 of the “Best Companies to Work for in America” as designated by Working Mother magazine.

About Bupa

Bupa is the UK market leader in health and care with a strong international presence. Established in 1947, it has around 10 million customers in almost 200 countries and more than 55,000 employees. Its main interests are health insurance, care homes for older people and young disabled, health assessments, and workplace health. Bupa Travel offers a bespoke travel insurance service. Sanitas in Spain, MBF, HBA, Mutual Community in Australia and Bupa Aged Care in Australia, and Guardian care homes in New Zealand, IHI in Denmark and Health Dialog in the US are all part of the Bupa Group which also has centres in Hong-Kong, Thailand and Saudi Arabia. Bupa is a company limited by guarantee and does not have a share capital. As a result, it can focus on its customers, helping them to live longer, healthier lives and can reinvest all of its profits to do this - this is the dividend that Bupa provides.

Source: Bright Horizons Family Solutions LLC

Bridget Perry, Bright Horizons Family Solutions, +44-01933-415993, bridget.perry at brighthorizons.com; or Kevin Mochrie, Bupa Corporate Communications, +44-020-7656-2632, M: +44-07725-142-381, mochriek at bupa.com