Entrepreneurs Paul Taylor, Rachel Strong and their partners have expanded their children’s nursery business through a second acquisition.

They have bought Broomfield Day Nursery in Clayton, Bradford, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary next April, with funding from Santander Corporate & Commercial banking.

They already run the nearby Ark Day Nursery and the deal will enable their business to provide nursery places for up to 123 children.

They plan to refurbish and expand Broomfield and add 30 places to nearly double the capacity from 38.

The upper-floor will be converted from storage and living accommodation into space for children under the age of two. Extra staff will also be hired to cope with the expansion.

Rachel Strong, who qualified in childcare in 1995, has previously overseen expansion of the Ark Day Nursery which was bought in 2009 and has increased the number of places from 31 to 65 now has a waiting list of 110 children.

She said: “We have a proven track record of successfully managing a local nursery and believe we can repeat this winning formula with this new centre in Broomfield. There is substantial demand for high-quality childcare in the area and we know we will be able to help cut waiting lists at both of our facilities.”

Craig Daniels, of Santander, said: “It is great to see Rachel and Paul both use their experience to expand this business. The two nurseries are within ten minutes’ drive of each other so if one nursery is full, places can be offered at the other.”