NURSERY & CHILDCARE STARTUP
How to Open a Nursery in England
We build your EYFS-compliant childcare business and handle your Ofsted registration in 16 weeks, while you keep working.
Whether you are opening a nursery, a pre-school, or registering as a childminder, a dedicated team of 13 builds the whole business, the company, the documentation, the branding, and your Ofsted registration.
Last reviewed: 04 June 2026
Ofsted registration · EYFS compliant · England-wide
Opening a nursery: a real business, in real demand
Childcare is one of the most in-demand services in the country, and demand keeps growing. The expansion of government-funded childcare hours has pushed more families than ever to look for places, and there are not enough good settings to go round. For an experienced early years professional, opening your own nursery or childcare setting is one of the most realistic regulated businesses to start.
It is also more accessible than most people assume. You can start small as a childminder from your own home, or open a full group nursery, and there are routes in between. The right one depends on how many children you want to care for, where, and with how many staff.
What every route has in common is Ofsted. You must register before you open, you must meet the Early Years Foundation Stage, and you must get the setup right: the premises, the ratios, the qualifications, and the documentation. That is the part we handle, so you can focus on the care.
Which type of childcare provider should you register as?
Early years childcare is not one thing. The route you register as shapes your costs, your ratios, your qualifications, and your premises. These are the main ones.
Childminder
Caring for children in your own home, usually as a sole trader. The most accessible way in, with lower fees and a simpler setup, registered on the Early Years Register and, where relevant, the Childcare Register.
Childcare on domestic premises
A home-based setting that has grown beyond childminding. Since November 2024, the moment five or more adults work together in a home setting at the same time, you are no longer a childminder, you are a group provider on domestic premises, with the higher fees and requirements that brings.
Nursery or group provision
A standalone nursery, pre-school, or daycare setting in dedicated premises. The largest opportunity, and the most involved to set up: commercial premises, a full staff team, and the full Early Years Register requirements.
There is also a newer route, registering as a childminder without domestic premises, for those who want to childmind from premises that are not their own home. Which route fits your plan is the first thing we confirm, because everything else, your costs, your ratios, your premises, follows from it.
The EYFS and the rules you have to meet
Every early years provider in England has to meet the Early Years Foundation Stage, the EYFS. It is the statutory framework that sets the standards for children from birth to five, and Ofsted assesses you against it at registration and at inspection. Two parts of it shape your business more than any other.
Staff-to-child ratios are non-negotiable
The EYFS sets the minimum number of staff per child, and these are set by law: one adult to every three children under two, one to five for two-year-olds (the statutory minimum since September 2023, though many settings choose to staff at one to four), and one to eight for three and four-year-olds. The ratio for three and four-year-olds can extend to one to thirteen where a qualified teacher leads the room. These ratios decide your staffing costs and, with your premises, your maximum capacity, so they sit at the centre of your business plan.
Premises, space, and safety
Your premises have to meet minimum indoor space per child, roughly 2.3 square metres depending on the age group, with safe, suitable indoor and outdoor space, proper kitchen, toilet and nappy-changing facilities, and the right fire safety. If you are converting a building from another use, you may need planning permission for the change of use. Ofsted checks all of this at your registration visit.
Qualifications, training, and vetting
You and your staff need qualifications that meet EYFS requirements, paediatric first aid, safeguarding training, and enhanced DBS checks for everyone working with the children. Ofsted assesses the suitability of the people in your setting as closely as the setting itself. We make sure your team and your documentation meet the bar.
What you need in place to open
Before Ofsted will register you, several things have to be ready. We build or coordinate all of them.
The single biggest factor in whether a nursery is viable long-term is keeping staff costs in proportion, typically wages run between 55 and 70 per cent of income, so your ratios, your capacity, and your pricing all have to work together from the start. We help you get the structure and the numbers right, not just the registration.
DONE FOR YOU
How we build and register your nursery
A dedicated team of 13 builds your entire childcare business and handles your Ofsted registration, five regulation professionals, four administration officers, and three technical specialists, coordinated end to end. Here is how the work runs.
Compliance & Regulatory Pathway Assessment
We confirm the right route for your plan, childminder, childcare on domestic premises, or group nursery, check your premises and planning position against the EYFS, and assess you and your team against Ofsted’s suitability requirements, flagging any barrier upfront.
Legal & Business Structure Setup
We form your company at Companies House with the right structure for a childcare business, and prepare the legal and HR foundation your setting needs.
Complete Compliance Documentation
We write every policy and procedure the EYFS and Ofsted expect, safeguarding, welfare, behaviour, health and safety, safer recruitment, tailored to your setting.
Professional Branding & Web Presence
We build your branding and a professional website, so parents can find you, trust you, and join your waiting list before you even open.
Accountancy & Financial Structure
We brief an accountant from our network and help you structure your finances, including how funded hours and your staffing ratios affect your numbers.
Regulatory Registration & Interview Support
We complete your Ofsted application on the correct route, submit it, and prepare you thoroughly for the registration visit, the suitability interview, and the questions Ofsted will ask.
Post-Registration Launch Support
Once registered, we help you launch: staff onboarding, the systems to run a compliant setting, and the plan to fill your places and access funded-hours funding.
What it costs to open a nursery
Childcare has the widest cost range of any route we work with, because a childminder starting from home and a full group nursery are very different businesses. Here is the honest picture.
Childminders start low; group providers pay a few hundred pounds.
Typical cost to adapt a home for childcare on domestic premises.
The key number that decides whether a nursery is viable.
At the lower end, registering as a childminder is genuinely accessible: a modest Ofsted fee, your training and DBS checks, and, if you are adapting your home, a conversion that typically runs from two to seven thousand pounds. A full group nursery is a much larger undertaking: commercial premises and fit-out, a full staff team from day one, equipment, and working capital to cover the months before you are full. Ofsted’s registration fee itself is higher for group providers than for childminders.
Whatever the scale, the number that decides long-term viability is staffing: wages typically run between 55 and 70 per cent of income. Our service builds the whole business around the right structure, and on your free consultation we give you a clear, honest cost picture for your specific plan.
Ofsted fees vary by provider type and change. Figures correct as of 04 June 2026; always confirm current fees on GOV.UK before budgeting.
How long it takes to open a nursery
We build and submit your complete application in 16 weeks. That covers confirming your route, the company setup, the full EYFS-aligned documentation, your premises and planning position, and getting you and your team ready for assessment.
After submission, the timeline belongs to Ofsted. Early years registration involves documentation checks, suitability checks on you and your staff, and a registration visit to your setting, and you should allow up to around twenty-five weeks for the process, sometimes less, sometimes more, depending on Ofsted’s workload and the completeness of your application. A strong, complete application is what keeps yours moving rather than stalling.
We manage the whole period for you: we respond to Ofsted’s queries, prepare you for your registration visit and interview, and keep you updated every week until a decision. Then we help you open and start filling your places. Sixteen weeks to a complete, submitted application, then a regulator-dependent period we manage from start to finish.
Nursery startup questions, answered
Related guides
Want more detail before you book? These guides go deeper.
How long does Ofsted registration take?
The honest timeline by route, including early years registration.
Read the guide →How much does it cost to open a nursery?
The wide range, from childminder to group nursery, and the number that decides viability.
Read the guide →Childminder registration: how to register with Ofsted
The two registration types, the Rule of Five, and how to register.
Read the guide →Ready to open your nursery?
Book a free 30-minute consultation. We will confirm the right route for your plan, answer your questions, and show you exactly how we would build your business and handle your Ofsted registration in 16 weeks.
No obligation. 100% confidential.