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Expanding a Business through M&A Without Sacrificing Culture

Clare Roberts shares her journey of founding Kids Planet and growing it into one of the UK’s largest childcare providers with 225 nurseries. She reveals how she balanced organic growth with strategic acquisitions while staying true to her company’s values. Clare discusses the importance of culture in M&A, managing seller relationships, and how to maintain operational quality during rapid expansion.

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Clare Roberts OBE, Founder and CEO at Kids Planet

In this episode of M&A Science, Clare Roberts shares her journey of founding Kids Planet and growing it into one of the UK’s largest childcare providers with 225 nurseries. She reveals how she balanced organic growth with strategic acquisitions while staying true to her company’s values. Clare discusses the importance of culture in M&A, managing seller relationships, and how to maintain operational quality during rapid expansion. If you’re scaling a business and want to do it without losing sight of what matters most, this is an episode for you.

Things you will learn:

How to maintain company culture during rapid M&A growth
The benefits of blending organic growth with acquisitions
How to build trust with sellers and integrate their teams smoothly
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Why proactive leadership and transparency are key to successful integrations

Clare Roberts

Clare Roberts OBE is the Founder and CEO of Kids Planet, one of the UK’s largest childcare providers. With a background in IT and sales, Clare founded Kids Planet in 2008 after struggling to find quality childcare for her daughter. She has led the company’s growth through a combination of acquisitions and greenfield development while earning national recognition for her services to education.

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