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Paid childcare

Discuss everything related to paid childcare here, including childminders, nannies, nurseries and au pairs.

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Original poster

nanny agency asking crazcy fee for nanny placment is this right?

41 replies

dawn82 · 12/10/2010 21:20

A local nanny agecy in south east london is telling me that i will have to pay a flat fee of £200 (and that is a special offer they state) I am a new mum going back to work in jan so all this nanny stuff is new to us. They have aleady sent me loads of cv's to sort thorugh but slight concerned about the fee.

anyone else used an agency? paid a placemnt fee? is this too much?

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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Checkmate · 12/10/2010 21:28

That's quite cheap compared to some I've been quoted!

You can avoid an agency fee by advertising/relying to adverts yourself. I advertise on gumtree. Obviously need to be careful to properly take up references... lots of info on here about that.

nannynick · 12/10/2010 21:39

I would say 4 to 6 weeks salary is fairly typical as an agency fee for a full-time nanny.

They have aleady sent me loads of cv's to sort thorugh

That screams at me as being an indication of a useless agency. The whole point of using an agency is that they MATCH you with A COUPLE of suitable nannies and check with those nannies that they are interested in the job. Then you only physically need to meet One or Two nannies.

If you want to self-recruit you will find lots of help on here, plus you can ask questions on here and get replies from nannies and nanny employers fairly quickly.
To get you started... some popular sites for nanny job adverts are:
www.nannyjob.co.uk
www.childcare.co.uk
www.gumtree.com
Be as detailed as possible in your advert to avoid timewasters.

Cologne · 12/10/2010 21:54

Hi,

I would be very careful. I am currently looking for a new nanny as well and I have registered with a few agencies. I got good CV's from Busy Bee Nannies and Wellington Nannies (I don't want to spend too much for the placement. Eden Nannies and Imperial Nannies are one of the bigger agencies but charge more than £2000 plus VAT for the nanny I need.)

Wellington Nannies's website is www.wellingtonnannies.co.uk

Cologne · 12/10/2010 21:56

Sorry send it too early.

www.busybeenannies.co.uk/
www.imperialnannies.com
and www.eden-nannies.co.uk

I have also advertised on Gumtree but got so many replies (also from nannies who did not meet my criteria etc.)

ojmummy · 12/10/2010 21:59

I would advertise privately but obv check all refs extremely carefully. I am registered with several agencies but also work for many families direct with no agency involvement - I am sure many nannies that agencies put you in touch with may advertise privately also, so check ads on prev mentioned websites.

Cologne · 12/10/2010 22:16

@OJmummy
Where do you advertise? I did on Gumtree, but got so many CV's on the first day I couldn't bother open them all. Are there any other good sites?

Blondeshavemorefun · 12/10/2010 22:49

£200 is very cheap - tbh a bit too cheap for an agency so are they actually a proper registered agency?

most add another nought on!

agree with nick that they shouldn't send you heaps of cv's - maybe 5 or so of the ones that they think will be a perfect match for you

frakkinstein · 13/10/2010 04:32

£200 is super cheap!

Yes you get a lot of cross from Gumtree but you also get good candidates who might not fit your spec exactly, so wouldn't have been an agency match, and they often come cheaper....

NickOfTime · 13/10/2010 04:50

that's really cheap! i've paid £900 and £1400 before (not in london) but usually only get 5 or 6 cv's that are good matches.

ojmummy · 13/10/2010 08:01

www.nannyjob.co.uk
www.findasitter.co.uk
www.findababysitter.co.uk
www.gunmtree.com
www.netmums.com
www.childcare.co.uk

I am a nanny so its free for me to advertise on these sites, as a parent I think some may charge you but not all.

Lizcat · 13/10/2010 08:46

Recruitment through an agency 10% of the first years salary is not an uncommon fee. Having pai £400 on several occasions for an AP £200 for a nanny sounds very cheap and I would be very cautious of the quality of their candidates.

Strix · 13/10/2010 10:15

Agree £200 is dirt cheap. I wonder if OP meant to type £2000.

theoriginalmummypoppins · 13/10/2010 12:37

Waves to everyone.........

Crikey the last fee I paid was £2,400 plus VAT !!

Strix · 13/10/2010 12:56

Yeah, but you are gullible.

You ever gonna come to London for dinner or what????

annh · 13/10/2010 13:32

Dawn, do not register with an agency which charges £200 and sends you heaps of CVs. Unfortunately, most agencies charge far more than that but for that money they should at least be filtering CVs and only sending ones which pretty exactly meet your criteria. Have you actually met with this agency, do they know exactly what you are looking for?

I would recommend ditching agencies and finding a nanny myself but I do appreciate that when you are new to it and still getting your head around the idea of going back to work, it can be useful to have someone to do some of the work for you.

The combined wisdom of Mumsnet far surpasses any agency so if you decide to find a nanny yourself, ask anything you want to know and we'll tell you!

Taking a step back, have you explored all other childcare options and decided this is best for your circumstances? A nanny for one child will probably be the most expensive form of childcare around but of course does bring its own advantages.

theoriginalmummypoppins · 13/10/2010 15:06

hey strix saving it for the New Year so we can have a long lunch with your little one to coo over !!!!

I know Im gullible but I do have the best nanny ever at the moment ! Which is why Im not on here much these days !!

Strix · 13/10/2010 15:49

I am just teasing. And would love to see you for lunch in the New Year! (or an evening booze session for which DS2 will not be invited )

Blondeshavemorefun · 13/10/2010 16:17

you can still come on here with a good nanny, you dont just have to post for help

strix, hope all is fine with bump - you dont pop on here much either

Strix · 13/10/2010 17:02

Am too busy/tired. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

annh · 13/10/2010 17:17

Strix, you're nerving another one?! You are taking your responsibilities to the nanny population far too seriously!

annh · 13/10/2010 17:47

Oh dear Lord! Bl&£@) I-pad typing! I obv meant HAVING, wonder what nerving a child might produce?!

nannyj · 14/10/2010 06:54

My boss paid a fee of £3200 for me. Seems good value.

nannyj · 14/10/2010 06:56

Ooh congrats Strix didn't realise you were having another one.

Indaba · 14/10/2010 07:07

You should only pay money to agency on success. Not upfront.

The idea about agencies is they do the screening for you...ie send you their best 4 that they have interviewed. To save you time and get the value if their experience.

Igglybuff · 14/10/2010 10:08

I paid £300 and only received a few CVs and interviewed two nannies. This was in London. The agency admitted that they had to cut their fees as times were tough and they were competing with the Internet.

We paid once we'd found a nanny. We did have to pay a small admin charge upfront - £50 I think?

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