OakNorth Bank has provided growth capital to Innervation Capital Partners, a sector-focused, theme-driven investor to support the “buy and build” strategy of its newly-launched Special Educational Needs (SEN) provider, Melrose Education.
Innervation Capital focuses on investing in platform companies in essential services sectors such as education. It then works closely with the management team to accelerate growth through a mixture of organic and inorganic growth. In 2017, OakNorth Bank provided support to ICP Nurseries, and in 2019, did the same with Cresswell Nurseries – both were Innervation Capital-backed businesses.
ICP Nurseries and Cresswell Nurseries were combined to form ICP Education in December 2020. In June 2021, Innervation Capital announced the sale of ICP Education to Oakley Capital IV, and it now intends to replicate that success in nurseries in SEN schools via its recently-launched entity, Melrose Education.
