The acquisition is the first step in developing the Morrisons’ online business.

The company owns a new state of the art freehold distribution facility and operates the largest baby nursery equipment retail store in Europe based in Peterborough, comprising 160,000 square feet of warehouse, retail and office space

Kiddicare.com will continue to operate on a standalone basis and will maintain its headquarters in Peterborough.

Scott Weavers-Wright, CEO, and Elaine Weavers-Wright, Head of Buying/Merchandising, will continue to lead the business and both have ambitious plans to drive kiddicare.com's future growth over the coming years. Neville and Marilyn Wright, who founded the business in 1974, are retiring as part of the transaction but Jo Wright will stay on with Kiddicare.

Key aspects of kiddicare.com's future growth strategy include leveraging Morrisons’ expertise in baby consumables to develop a one-stop shop online for all baby care needs and extending kiddicare.com's business model internationally, with the first European deliveries expected in March 2011.

Scott Weavers-Wright will also lead the development of Morrisons' non-food online business, which is expected to be launched in 2012, and will also operate from kiddicare.com's operations in Peterborough.

Scott was recently voted number seven in Retail Week's Power List of the most influential people in e-commerce and his leadership at Kiddicare has resulted in the business winning numerous industry awards including the recent Econsultancy, Retail Week, IMRG and Retail Systems company of the year awards for innovation and for the company’s multi-channel strategy.

The company’s investment in technology has in turn lead to Kiddicare providing world class customer service and has seen the business win numerous parenting awards, voted for by parents, including the Best Nursery Retailer and Best Online Nursery Retailer at the prestigious Mother and Baby Magazine awards in 2010.

Scott Weavers-Wright, Chief Executive of kiddicare.com, said: "Elaine and I are extremely excited about partnering with Morrisons to accelerate the pace of future growth at kiddicare.com and look forward to working with the Morrisons team to develop their own online offer. There are fantastic synergies between the two businesses and our platform will allow both brands to enjoy future success and to continue to deliver an unrivalled customer experience. This deal is great news for kiddicare.com's staff and for Peterborough, more generally.”

Dalton Philips, Chief Executive of Morrisons, said:  “This acquisition brings not only a respected, successful and fast growing specialist retailer into the Morrisons group but also a robust, scalable and highly advanced technology platform around which we can begin to build our e-commerce offer. 

“We are delighted to welcome Scott and Elaine Weavers-Wright to Morrisons, along with their team.  They are two of the most talented and respected operators of online retail today and their experience and track record with Kiddicare.com has been outstanding.   Their knowledge and expertise will be invaluable as Morrisons builds its online business.”

Neville Wright, founder of Kiddicare, said: "Morrisons is a fantastic long term partner for the business and we wish Scott, Elaine and Jo every success in the future as they continue to drive the business forward. Marilyn and I would like to thank all of the staff for their hugely valued contribution over the years. kiddicare.com has been a great success story for Peterborough and with Morrisons as a partner will continue to flourish in the years ahead."

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