Highland nursery Country Bumpkins enters liquidation

Managing directors and Insolvency Practitioners Ian Wright and Scott Milne from the Glasgow office of our Restructuring and Advisory Division, were appointed as Joint Provisional Liquidators for Scotland-based children’s nursery Country Bumpkins (Inverness) Limited on 15 June 2023.

Located in Ardersier, near Inverness, the single site Country Bumpkins children’s nursery was established in 2012 and employed a team of 30 staff. The nursery, along with many in the private sector, had experienced difficulties in finding suitably trained staff, as many had migrated to Council settings offering improved pay and benefits. Added to this was the post-Brexit reduction in the highlands labour market, all of which led to reliance on agency staff and increased costs.

In recent years the nursery’s revenues had remained steady, despite both the Pandemic and increased levels of home working, however, the staffing difficulties and increased costs meant that the company ceased to be economically viable. The business closed immediately prior to winding up and all roles at the nursery have now been made redundant.

Our Restructuring and Advisory Division managing director and Joint Provisional Liquidator Scott Milne said:

“It is deeply regrettable that Country Bumpkins has been forced to cease trading, due to a series of challenging circumstances. A combination of extremely difficult trading conditions, including a reduced labour market and increasing costs, has seen the business unable to continue.

As Joint Provisional Liquidators, our immediate priorities have been to provide appropriate support to those whose jobs have been affected.

We would like to thank Highland Council and local private providers for helping to try and accommodate children into other local nursery facilities.”