Rural Small Buildings Grant Case Study: Crosby Nursery

Background to business and property

CROSBY Nursery is situated in Laughingstock House, which was separated into two houses in 1900. James and Maria Sedgwick lived in Bloomsberry House, which was half of the building, but when the remaining half of the building came up for sale the couple bought it in September 2002. The property needed significant renovations and repairs.

James is a chef and they decided to renovate and convert the downstairs area into a 40 cover restaurant which they ran as a family business until 2005 when the property was extensively damaged by the Carlisle floods.

Maria is a sick children’s nurse and while repairs were being carried out to the building following the flooding, the couple took stock of their business and after extensive market research discovered their was a need for children care provision in the area and decided to use the insurance payout to develop a children’s nursery in the building.

Crosby Nursery opened in September 2005, and was registered for 32 children. But while the nursery was full, the business was not large enough to make the project sustainable. The demand for their services was greater than the capacity of the original building. They needed to expand to make the business viable, and decided to develop the redundant upper floor of the building.

Contact with CREA

The couple put in a planning application to develop the upper floor and for change of use in September 2005. At this point they contacted CREA to make an application for a RSBS grant.

“The original staircase was removed during the conversion into a restaurant, and access to the upper floor needed to be built. It was not feasible to erect an internal staircase, as it would have taken up too much space in the nursery rooms, and we could not close the nursery while building work was being carried out as families relied on the nursery. So, a small extension to the existing building was planned to take the new staircase. The expansion of the business was wholly reliant upon the building of the new extension to give access to the three redundant rooms.” Maria Sedgwick.

The couple sent photographs of the building and plans with their application. The grant was given in September, 2007. Local builders NCT began work immediately, and completed the renovation and extension work in 13 weeks.

Impact of the RSBS Grant and broader benefits

The objectives of James and Maria’s plans were:
• To create work space and job opportunities
• To develop three redundant upper floor rooms
• Expand their capacity from 32 children to 56 to meet local demand and make the business sustainable.

“The building project has made the business viable and sustainable. We now employ four more members of staff and have increased the hours of the pre-school leader. We now have a team of 21 people working at the nursery. We have been able to increase our baby places, for children under 2 from 12 to 20 and increase the number of child places from 32 to 56.”
James Sedgwick.

Upon completion, their project has created a two level childcare centre for children aged 0-to-11 years with out of school and holiday club provision. The location of the nursery, on a main commuter route, means that they are providing a service not only to the local community but also families from further away who come into Carlisle for work and study.

Next steps

James and Maria are looking to develop woodland and shaded play areas to encourage more outdoor activities.

As winners of Best Nursery 2006/7 for Cumbria in the Sure Start/News and Star awards, and with their reputation for good quality, freshly prepared food and a healthy living approach to childcare, James and Maria are now looking to expand their brand. They are looking to buy a second nursery, preferably rural and develop their nursery philosophy under the 'Laughingstock' name, creating a brand name that provides outstanding childcare.