The Mall School, Twickenham

After reconfiguring the teaching spaces at The Mall School in Twickenham, a new building was left empty and the leadership team saw it as an opportunity to establish a nursery on the site. However, before investing in the costly process of setting up the nursery and marketing it to local families, the Bursar, Glen Jones, engaged MTM to determine if there was a sufficient demand for a new nursery in the area.

MTM conducted a Nursery Feasibility Study to assess the local nursery market, examining the provision offered by existing nurseries and their performance. The research involved using a unique catchment analysis tool to estimate the market size, analyse competitors’ roll trends, and project population change. MTM also carried out a telephone mystery shop of the key competitors and surveyed parents to understand their perception of a ‘good’ nursery and where demand for a new nursery would be.

MTM Consulting’s research showed that families in the local area predominantly required childcare for a full working day, which is why nursery settings that operate for 51 weeks a year are thriving. Parents in the Twickenham area were educationally aware and most likely to choose academic settings for their children, making The Mall School well-positioned to operate in a buoyant, affluent local market and capitalise on opportunities to recruit more pupils from slightly further afield.