Searching for a nanny - which agency would you recommend?

[mummyJ76]

Hi, I'm based in Putney and am looking for a nanny to start in mid-May 2014 to care for my two kids (1 and 4). I have searched online for advice on how to find a nanny and the resource is overwhelming. Which nanny agency would you recommend or maybe you could share tips on how you found your nanny whether via a nanny agency or other means. Any advice/direction would be gratefully received!

i put an advert on childcare.co.uk and got lots of responses leading to a great nanny

Thank you Parietal - that sounds pretty straight forward. Am just having a look on the website and I think I will do as you suggest. Were there any fees that you had to pay? And you carried out the necessary checks yourself I suppose?

Thank you again!

It is a monthly subscription, auto rebilling.

You would need to do all checks youself.
Ask applicants if they are Ofsted Registered as if they are then Pfsted will have dobe a crb/dbs check.

Some nabny agencies will do some checks for you, for a fee. Think Tinies may offer the service but suspect others may do as well.

What sort of checks would you want doing which you can't do yourself? DBS is the one I can think of.

Thanks for your tips nannynick. I am all new to this so am finding this very helpful. Have just been reading up about OFSTED registered nannies and what that involves. So that clears up my question about checks.

Parietal, in your advert, did you put down the nanny salary? Or is that something you talk about during interviews?

And more generally, what's the going rate? I guess it differs depending on which part of town one lives. But would say around 10 per hour is the minimum for London?

Thanks for your tips nannynick. I am all new to this so am finding this very helpful. Have just been reading up about OFSTED registered nannies and what that involves. So that clears up my question about checks.

Parietal, in your advert, did you put down the nanny salary? Or is that something you talk about during interviews?

And more generally, what's the going rate? I guess it differs depending on which part of town one lives. But would say around 10 per hour is the minimum for London?

As a nanny I would not apply for a job without knowing salary.

Agree a Gross salary. 10 gross sounds low for London.

If you do decide to use an agency , I would recommend applejack nannies .

Salary really depends on experience as much as anything like in any other job . I am paying nearer 12 ph gross but am allowing nanny to bring her baby.

Thanks Gigondas, will consider applejack nannies if going via agency.

And about the hourly rate, is it generally for per child? Or is it per hour per child?

Sorry for the many questions - thank goodness for Mumsnet! The support from you lovely folks is just wonderful!

Childminders charger per child per hour but may offer sibling discounts. Nannies charge per family so it doesn't matter if you have one or four would be the same. And roughly just over £13 ph gross (£10 net ph) is about average for someone who's experienced qualifications etc

Standard in N London is £10 net which works out at £12-13 gross.

Talking of costs, have you created a budget estimate for your Total Cost?
If not then things to include are:
Employers national insurance
Payroll admin (or you can do it yourself if you are familar with how PAYE works)
Cost of transport whilst nanny is on duty / mileage payment if nanny uses their own car.
Food/drink for nanny on duty.
Activities/outings
Odds and ends, craft suplies, cake ingredients.

Thanks very much all.

My word, there's so much to consider! Thank you nannynick for setting a list of other costs - I haven't really sat down to consider them but will do now. I was looking at other threads re contract and that got me thinking about the same things you mentioned. (And also noticed that your many contributions towards various chats. Thanks for contributing to this one!)

If going down the agency route then Abbeville Nannies are great. They are based in SW London and did all checks including references (I was with my boss when they called!)

Petty cash is quite important, as a nanny who is housebound won't last long!

as an employer my experience of abbeville wasn't great. They pushed one candidate and were quite surprised (and a bit pushy- tho didn't get far with dh who deals with headhunters a lot)when we wouldn't employ her as we didn't think she was right.

Interestingly they never put forward the person we did subsequently employ despite her being good for job .

Nannies incorprated are great

Hello, have a look at the childcare section on the Mumsnet Wandsworth local site. Quite a few agencies listed with reviews and you can ask on the local talk board too.

Sorry, bit of a plug but hopefully helpful too.

Oh, and it is here Mumsnet Wandsworth

I wouldn't shell out for an agency. All they will do is put it on nannyjob.co.uk (which you can do yourself as a one off fee) and you still should call references etc yourself. There is no guarantee an agency will ask the questions which are important to you and you are much more sensitive to hesitant replies or something which doesn't ring true. Referees are also more likely to be careful to agencies than a fellow parent.

If they're OFSTED registered then you should know that their CRB/DBS will have been carried out when they registered and only OFSTED are updated on changes. What you want is a recent DBS or a DBS which has been subscribed to the update service so you can pop online and see for yourself whether it is clear with no new information.

I found my nanny through Little Ones London. If you decide decide that you need an agency i would recommend them.

www.littleoneslondon.co.uk

Good luck!