recommend a nanny agency?

[EverybodysStressyEyed]

My youngest starts school this year so from September I am looking for a nanny housekeeper (emphasis on the nanny). We are in London.

Can anyone recommend an agency? The one I used last time is no longer open.

I like Abbeville, from a nanny POV anyway. I think they tend to cover SW, SE and W London mostly (though not exclusively) so it depends where you are.

Eden nannies is fab

Most agencies interview nannies VERY briefly. When I first went interviewing I was nervously thinking of smart things to say and was very surprised to be faced with a lady briskly ticking boxes eg: "live in or out?' 'Pets ok'? 'Will you travel' 'do you drive' and very little else plus they barely reference check at all AND if you return to the agency years later they don't even meet face to face again, just add a paragraph to your cv...SO I guess what I'm saying is that you need to choose one with plenty of nannies and in your area but do your own referencing and background checks. Eden, kensington nannies and Nannies of st James were some of the longer interviews I had.

Oh no! That's not what I wanted to hear!

I only have a week to find someone so I was hoping the agency would have done all of that so all I needed to do was meet the candidates and read their written references.

Has anyone used little ones?

I feel like I've contradicted myself as I didn't mention that I Also need to find a temporary nanny to fill in until September.

I've used Eden and Imperial as an employer. Both were fine but both seemed to pretty much limit themselves to emailing the job to all their registered candidates rather than proactively contacting individuals on their books who met the criteria. I expected a bit more but might be being unrealistic here.

I'm confused about who you want to start when?

Sorry I was being a bit vague in my OP just to get an idea of agencies

I need a nanny housekeeper to start in September so plenty of time

I also need a temporary nanny to start ASAP as my current childcare has ended unexpectedly.

The September role is obviously the more important as we would hope this to be a long term role and I would like to use the same agency for both hence not mentioning the temp role in my OP. (Sorry for confusion).

Eden were looking for me last time but they ended up throwing a load of inappropriate candidates at me which I then had to sift through. The agency I eventually went through were much more thoughtful in who they referred but have unfortunately closed down.

What area are you? I have experience with several agencies that I can recommend for you

Nw london

Sorry, but it's true. Also true with imperial especially that as a nanny you just check the agency website regularly for new posts then contact the agent if you are keen and they email your CV...not really personalised service!

Try Nadia at North London Nannies. I honestly think she is fab.
I also found Tinies pretty good. I really don't like Eden.