Q&A with Jessie Haggerty, Franchise Acquisitions Manager at Monkey Puzzle Day Nurseries
Name: Jessie Haggerty
Role: Franchise Acquisitions Manager
Who are Monkey Puzzle Day Nurseries?
Monkey Puzzle Day Nurseries is the UK’s largest franchised and organically grown nursery group, with more than 30 years of experience in early years education and over 70 settings nationwide.
Alongside its successful network of franchise partners, Monkey Puzzle also owns and operates a number of nurseries directly under the Monkey Puzzle Nursery Group (MPNG). This expanding portfolio complements the wider franchise network, reinforcing the company’s commitment to quality, consistency, and long-term growth across the UK.
How many locations does Monkey Puzzle currently have?
We are proud to have over 70 thriving nursery settings across the UK — and our network continues to grow year after year.
Target Locations
We are actively seeking well-located, prominent properties in established residential areas, ideally within easy reach of local amenities, town centres and excellent public transport connections.
We take a flexible approach to property acquisitions and consider a broad range of existing building types, including former care homes, offices, hotels, medical centres, educational facilities and community buildings, where there is potential for conversion to our operational requirements.
Our primary focus is Central London, Greater London and the South East, although we are keen to explore suitable opportunities in other major towns and cities throughout the UK.
We welcome introductions to both on-market and off-market opportunities and encourage agents and property owners to contact us with sites that may meet our requirements.
Please refer to our latest Property Requirements e-flyer for further details of our priority locations.
Size Requirements
Our ideal property size is 3,000 – 6,000 sq ft (GIA). However, we are open to smaller properties where extensions or internal reconfiguration can create additional usable space.
Additional Requirements
We are seeking properties that offer, or have the potential to accommodate, the following:
- Parking and access: On-site parking and/or safe, convenient drop-off and pick-up arrangements for parents and children.
- Outdoor space: Secure, accessible outdoor space suitable for children's play, exploration, and learning.
We are happy to consider properties where these facilities could be created or enhanced through refurbishment, reconfiguration, or redevelopment.
We take a pragmatic and flexible approach to assessing opportunities and welcome introductions to properties with the potential to meet our requirements, even where all criteria are not currently satisfied.
Freehold or Leasehold
We consider both freehold and leasehold opportunities. While the majority of our sites are leasehold, we also acquire freeholds via investor partners on a sale-and-leaseback basis.
We offer a strong covenant alongside flexible and attractive lease terms.
Recent Openings and Pipeline
Monkey Puzzle Day Nurseries continues to deliver an ambitious UK expansion programme, with significant progress across our development and acquisition pipeline.
We have recently celebrated the opening of four new nurseries in Upminster, Colchester, St Albans and Radlett, further strengthening our growing network.
A further five nursery developments are currently under construction in Epping, Brentford, Feltham, Sunbury-on-Thames and Rickmansworth, demonstrating the continued momentum of our expansion strategy.
Alongside these developments, we have:
- Six additional sites progressing through the legal stages towards completion.
- A further pipeline of opportunities undergoing due diligence, with potential acquisitions being actively assessed.
- An ongoing requirement for new sites across our priority locations and the wider UK.
This strong pipeline reflects our continued investment in the Monkey Puzzle network and our commitment to securing high-quality properties in desirable locations.
We remain actively acquisitive and welcome new opportunities from commercial agents, developers and property owners, including both on-market and off-market sites.
Contact details?
Email – property@mpdn.co.uk
