Christie & Co. Managing Director of Childcare & Education Courteney Donaldson shares her journey as an Early Years Consultant and how the company supports Early Years Education owners and investors grow their business through valuable market insights.
After doing a university degree in Estate Management, I joined Christie & Co as a graduate valuer and gained Chartered Surveyor and Chartered Valuer qualification and accreditation through RICS. I developed my specialism in the early years business property arena and became the go-to leading UK advisor in the sector for valuation, property, mergers and acquisitions. This expertise led to increasingly being invited to assist international investors and operators with their strategic business needs including their sale and/ or acquisition needs. Over the past 19 years, I have built a team of over 30 agents and valuers specialising in the child-centric arena, we help owners and investors buy, sell or grow their early years businesses.
There are many best practice standards that the UAE can, or has already adopted. However, an investment to drive quality by investing in people, curriculum and facilities and resources will always benefit a business and ultimately the whole sector in the UAE.
Childcare is increasingly becoming a global business and, alongside supporting owners of single settings, we are increasingly supporting childcare and education groups with their growth strategies, including acquisitions and organic developments, both domestically and internationally. As part of an international firm, with 15 UK offices, 14 European offices and our Asia desk, we have considerable scale and expertise, combining local knowledge with national insight. This means we can always provide the latest market insight; whether you’re local or overseas, operator or investor. Our specialist team offers particular expertise in mergers and acquisitions, valuations, feasibility studies and due diligence assignments.
The UK has become increasingly attractive to foreign investors because of currency gains against the Pound following the Brexit referendum. Alongside inbound investment, we are also seeing a substantial rise in outbound investment, with demographic trends and regulatory changes in countries such as China fuelling the interest and sowing the potential seed of opportunity for European, American and UK-based providers.
Ensure the business fundamentals are in place by guaranteeing your business is sustainable by regularly reviewing your business plan, determine your business USPs and monitor financial performance. Establishing these principals will enable you and your staff to focus on providing the best quality childcare possible.
My session will look at the for-profit nursery landscape and market drivers, the composition of markets, trading profiles and performance, key highlights in terms of transactional activity, the opportunities, challenges and risks as well as my top 10 tips for acquiring and investing.
I will also look at the drivers for operators to consider expanding overseas including the pro-active consolidation opportunities, opportunity to grow their business, enhance returns and profit and achieving a CSR ambition. I will discuss how to negate issues restricting and or limiting organic expansion or acquisition activity ‘at home’, the increase in ‘domestic’ operational pressures and how international acquisition can be a route to a diversification of risk.
The development of international partnerships and acquisitions can lead to the gaining of a wider early years business and operational knowledge, thus benefiting those that are acquiring, children, parents and the respective workforces alike. Opportunities for all, can and are, frequently created and gained and can ultimately expand your ‘legacy’ overseas.
Courteney Donaldson is Managing Director – Childcare & Education, at business property specialists Christie & Co. Having joined Christie & Co in the late 1990s, she qualified as a Chartered Surveyor in 2003, was invited to join Christie & Co’s corporate advisory team in 2006, and was subsequently appointed as a Director. Most recently, during 2017, she was appointed to Christie & Co’s Executive Committee.
Courteney has provided valuation, transactional and consultative advice in the children & day nursery sector since 1999 and has been responsible for the establishment and growth of Christie & Co’s Childcare and Education team.
Alongside Courteney’s role at Christie & Co, and as a testament to her expertise, in 2011 she was invited to join the board of the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) as a Co-Opted trustee.
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