Sigh, an OK nanny agency that covers East London?

[krabbiepatty]

This again. We have in the past used a couple of agencies I have ultimately not been that satisfied with in terms of the quality of checking references etc that has gone on. We are not that far East (I am calling us Hoxton / Bethnal Green borders, ahem). We don't really want one of those agencies which ask whether you are providing a flat and a car for the nanny but we do really need a very experienced and good quality nanny and are prepared to pay for one (assuming I can get back to work to earn some money). Grateful for any thoughts.

Try tinies Canary Wharf branch - Liz there is very good IME

Ah Soapbox, you are a Christmas angel. I will give them a go, thank you (babbles on setimentally for some further long while). Have nanny rates gone up madly, do you know? have been on mat leave rather a long time...

Any other suggestions received equally effusively...

theres an ad on this page hunm.. Imani childcare...... ndon't know if they cover your area tho but worth a try

So there is, spookymad, I will click and see..

Soapbox - I'm not finding a tinies Canary Wharf - is there more to the title?

Bump - anyone used nannyjob successfully?

Avoid agencies. Go to nannyjob.co.uk and gumtree.com and put your own ads up. It will save a packet and you won't have to put up with being lied to about qualifications you later discover the new nanny does't have. And the new nanny won't show up with false expectation because she has likewise been lied to about you.

My current nanny is from nannyjob, and she is fab.

thanks uwila - had forgotten about gumtree.

I used gumtree and nannyjob - got good applicants from both.

I used gumtree (ended up with a nanny who did not turn up for her first day at work), tried a second time but eventually hired a girl through a personal recommendation. She is absolutely fantastic.

I have not used agencies as I think they are a total rip off but somebody recommended Burlington Nannies (you can google them). I know they cover south east london, not sure about your neck of the woods.

Jura,
Out of curiosity is this your first Kiwi nanny? I've heard kiwis are good and I'm pondering going kiwi on my next hunt, which will begin in a few months.

Uwila's right, direct advertising is the way to go, and we've had good response from gumtree.

We live East as well, and it was clearly beneath some of the agencies, some of whom talked as if we wanted the poor girl to live in a stable and walk the kids barefoot to school.
Only time we went through a nanny agency we provided both a car and a horse, but we failed the "glamour" test big time.

We've had a Kiwi, worked out very well, and we forgave the way DS2 has a tiddy bear and eats yoegert Kiwis seem rarely to be gravely obese. One candidate "nearly died" walking up the hill to our house, and a couple simply could not have coped with two energetic kids (like there's any other kind).

The agencies also mostly crap, an analysis that as a pimp myself I feel confident delivering.

Their basic business model is defective. They don't charge enough to actually do any useful work, but they charge far too much for what they actually do. They survive because the nature of the market is that it doesn't matter so much if you don't get repeat business.

My nanny is an aussie - found her on Gumtree - she is fantastic

I have also been recommended Riverside nannies by a posh agency in north london who weren't interested in my need for a part time nanny in unfashionable SE London.

However I too have now started to just use non agency methods. I would recommend nannyjob, gumtree and Simply Childcare (who I believe are going web based from the new year).

The time before last when I recruited a nanny I almost had to resort to an agency. Out of the 4 CVs they sent me, I'd already seen 2 through Simply Childcare. The only time I used an agency the candidate left after 2 months (mid life crisis on her part) so it cost me a fortune.

If one my candidates walked out of a job after 2 months our standard terms would refund 50% of the fee. Quite right too since we're supposed to filter. not only would there be a cheque, but I'd ring the afflicted hirer, apologise abjectly, and bust a gut to fix the hole.

Nanny agencies typically don't offer such terms.
Hmmm, wonder why ?

Ohhhhhhh, so DC runs an employment agency. That explains so much. And reinforces what I think of both of them (DC and agencies).

You should see what he said about British engineers over on the windfarm thread (located in "In The News").