SW London nanny options

[jimily]

Hello everyone! This is my first post so bear with me. I'm starting to look to go back to work (new job) after having had DC2. Children are 1 and nearly 3 years old. I expect that I will need to employ a nanny for 4 days a week (grandma doing fifth day) but it is possible that I might only need them for 3 days a week if I can find a 4 day a week role (unlikely I think). I live in Putney and would be looking for a live-out nanny. Can anyone help with a couple of questions:

(1) What is the going rate for a live-out nanny?
(2) Would it be very hard to find a nanny for 3 days a week or even 4 days a week? Do most want 5 days a week jobs or not necessarily? I think we would be looking for 8-6.30 4 days a week, so 40 hours or so per week which is essentially full time hours in 4 days.
(3) Is it reasonable to expect the nanny to do household chores (washing, ironing, general cleaning, cooking) for the times when both children will be at nursery (probably a couple of mornings a week)
(4) Can anyone recommend any good agencies to try? Presumably it is best to go through an agency rather than advertising directly e.g. on Gumtree?

Many thanks in advance!

1. £10 net per hour (convert it in gross for the contract)

2. Some peopel prefer to work part time (or already have a two day a week job)

3. As long as it is clear in the advert that that amount of hour will be nannying and that amount of hour will be housekeeping, that shouldn;t be a problem. that might stop some people though. Some people expect to do only child related chores

4. I don't hink agency are useful or better at all.

Around £10 net or rougly £13gross is pretty standard wage ph. A lot of nannys like 4 day jobs so shouldn't be a problem. The only issue I would see is the amount of housework you want. Most nannies do any house work related to the children i.e cooking their laundry etc. but from the sounds of it you need a nanny-housekeeper. Which it's harder to find one that's good at both jobs. Especially as your children are quite young and the mojority of nanny-housekeepers tend to deal with school age children as they have a whole day to get on with the housekeeping side. If you could i would go with a nanny and separate cleaner

It depends on age and experience of the nanny. I work in SW London and nannies I know earn between £8:50 and £11:50 net per hour (£10.42 and £14.83 gross) work out what you can afford to pay gross, including employers NI (£61 per week based on £14.83 per hour) then take off a £1, then you can haggle with someone you like! Offer a pay review in 6 months or afford a pay rise after a year, afford birthday/Christmas presents, a box of chocs/bunch of flowers occasionally to show your appreciation, afford any over time (bus/train delays) always deal in gross wage with you prospective nannies but work out the net weekly wage for them.

Also remember there are other expenses in employing a nanny. Heating during the day, feeding the nanny (most nannies get lunch, tea, coffee, biscuits, snacks, some have breakfast and or dinner as well!) kitty for classes, swimming, farm, zoo, the odd visit to Starbucks! You will need to provide craft items and baking ingredients (if you want your nanny to do those with your children)

There shouldn't be any problem finding someone to do 3 or 4 days a week but if she has another job, the net amount she will take home from you will be significantly less as she will have used up her tax code in the other job.

I do the odd housework type thing, I will unload the dishwasher, empty the bin when it's full, sweep/mop the kitchen floor if it is needed, Hoover the areas the children use, playroom/sitting room/ their bedrooms, I will do all the children's washing and ironing, cook and batch cook for the freezer and make extra for my employers on occasion, dust their bedrooms. I will take my employers washing out of the washing machine, fold from the dryer (I will not match socks or unravel washed socks!!) but that is it on their cleaning. I will run errands (drop/collect dry cleaning, collect parcels, post/return parcels pick up bread/milk etc for them if we are passing a shop) and will do the family on-line shop from their shopping list and add stuff for the children/me.

I have found 8 out of 9 of my positions through agencies and one through the local paper. I have looked at Gumtree and Nannyjob but I have never had any luck through those. I found my current position through Wimbledon nannies, who are lovely and really do try to match family and nanny.

Good luck!

I think the tip about errands rather than household chores is spot on. Children's washing, ironing, etc - nannies will do these as part of the job. But more than that is housekeeping, really. It's hard to find someone who'll do both well.

Callaird's list is a good one. My current nanny is also very good at DIY around the house and taking the car to the garage for services etc. She came from KiwiOz nannies but is neither Kiwi nor Australian. i would explore what nannies are happy to do during interview, hand those jobs over to them and find some other solution for the rest.

I've just been through the same process. Hiring a nanny for 3 days a week in same area as you, similar hours. I advertised on nannyjob and childcare.co.uk. Got lots of applications from both but found the ones from childcare.co.uk were better. Generally more relevant to my ad rather than people just sending blanket applications that weren't personalised or focused on my ad. I have hired someone from childcare.co.uk.

I also signed up with agencies but I was so put off by their astronomical fees - a month's nanny salary in most cases which is a big expense. And you still have to do a lot of the same leg work in interviewing, checking refs, doing contracts etc etc that you do if advertising. It's just the candidates have been pre-filtered.

1. as above, 10 net/13 gross is standard, but there is a range below and above. Bear in mind the extra costs - kitty, activities, heating, nanny's lunch.

2. Shouldn't be an issue, loads of nannies mix and match part time jobs, but best to decide whether you want 3 or 4 days before you start advertising as most nannies will only be interested in one or the other. 4 days may be a little more attractive.

3. Child related chores yes. Non child related chores... maybe a bit but this might put quite a few candidates off. But presumably your youngest won't be in nursery school for at least a year anyway?

4. If you want an agency I've heard good things about Eden and Abbeville Nannies. But the fees are enormous. I used nappyvalleynet and found good candidates that way, so since you are Putney I would recommend that option. I'd suggest phone interviews first and then meet up with the ones you like the sound of.

Thanks so much to you all for all the very useful advice - very much appreciated!

Hi.

are you looking for a nanny still? :-)
I was exploring Google and ended up here!
Anyway please have a look on my ad here: www.gumtree.com/p/business-services/sunny-full-time-nanny-available-asap-anywhere-in-london/1087043812

Please don't hesitate to contact me! :-)

Thank you,
Iira