The new owners of an established children’s nursery in Suffolk are planning to expand its capacity.

Debbie Corsby has worked at Happy Days Childcare in Stradishall, near Bury St Edmunds, for 14 years and now, together with business partner Jim Morgan, she has purchased the business with the help of a £120,000 loand from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking.

They now aim to extend the premises by building an additional room that will allow the nursery to increase its current headcount from 62 to 86 next year.

Happy Days looks after children up to five years old but also works with local primary schools and organises day trips and after-school clubs for children up to the age of 11.

It currently employs 15 members of staff, one of which is a teacher with EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) status.

Debbie said: “It’s been a dream of mine to own my own nursery and the support from Lloyds Bank has been invaluable to help me reach this goal.

“Looking to the future, we’re hoping to forge more links with local primary schools to run more after-school clubs and expand our services to support more local families.”

Katie Ryan, relationship manager at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “Since last year, we’ve seen more reports of capacity shortages in early education, so it’s important that nurseries like Happy Days Childcare have the support they need to invest in their facilities and provide their essential services to more local families.

“We’re committed to supporting small to medium businesses like Debbie and Jim’s,” she added.