Anyone found a really great nanny agency in London?

[lalibela]

Just starting the hunt for a part-time nanny and have no idea where to start. Is there a great agency out there who I should go straight to or do I need to be placing ads myself? Advice from wiser, more experienced mums much appreciated, as I am a complete novice at this kind of thing!

You can try advertising on www.nannyjob.co.uk or www.gumtree.com. Then carrying out the usual reference checks yourself. I've used word of mouth, and gumtree..not used an agency yet.

As a nanny I've found agenices worse than useless tbh!! I've found all my jobs through nannyjob and gumtree.

IME, many agencies tend to specialise in specific geographic areas. You'll get more useful responses if you tell us what part of London you're in.

Nanny agencies vary a lot and certainly do not do anything that you could not do yourself (except from arrange a CRB check - wish the CRB would change that rule! Insist the nanny is Approved, then you get to see an Enhanced CRB check which is less than 1 year old).

Depending on how much time you have to look, I would certainly try looking for a nanny yourself first... then use an agency if you find you are running short of time.

NannyJob, NannySelect and Gumtree are all useful on-line places to start your hunt for a nanny, plus of course post in the Nanny Shares board here (it isn't all Nanny Shares, but more for general childcare recruitment).

Interview Questions for Nannies

Agree with others. I'd try nannyjob and gumtree first.

as a nanny i can say that nanny agencies are generally dislikes as much by us nannies as they are by parents!

One agency whch is by far the best agency i have ever had the fortune to deal with tho is Hyde Park International.

they cover hampshire and london and are based in hampshire

Google them and ask for sam, she is GREAT!

However you can save youself £1000+ should you advertise independnatly and check references yourself

I'm with Imperial Nannies and they have been great for me, always have good, well paying jobs but i know my boss paid them over £2000 in agency fees so it may be best to do it yourself if you want to save some money. Good luck

Although I think agency fees are too high, I think you get better candidates through agencies, and it saves you some time (not as much as it should) sifting through cvs/ fielding random phone calls. For our second recruitment exercise we used both direct ads and agencies and invariably preferred the agency candidates. No candidate overlap whatsoever, interestingly enough.

Bear in mind my idea of a good candidate is an experienced NNEB English mother tongue. I expect to, and do, pay top London rates for this. Also I employ full time sole charge; things might be different for part-time.

I liked Tinies. They produced our current lovely nanny. They also send, with the cvs, summaries of the standard questions they ask the previous employers. Wouldn't use this as a substitute for actually speaking to the previous employer. Tinies are a huge franchise, and I think their service might vary.

I also liked Abbeville Nannies, if you are in Clapham. They are a small local agency - they were very good with emergency childcare when our first nanny became pregnant and required a lot of time off work. From memory, I think they do part time jobs as well.

I'd also recommend Tinies. I gave up work and had to let my nanny go. She registered with about 14 agencies. Tinies was the only one who contacted me for a reference rather than just relying on the written one I had given her (but which could have been forged for all they knew.)

I found this shocking as when I was previously looking for a nanny, they all assured me that they checked references.

I'd also recommend Tinies. I gave up work and had to let my nanny go. She registered with about 14 agencies. Tinies was the only one who contacted me for a reference rather than just relying on the written one I had given her (but which could have been forged for all they knew.)

I found this shocking as when I was previously looking for a nanny, they all assured me that they checked references.

Better you than me

We got our wonderful nanny through KiwiOz, having been let down by someone I found through Gumtree. TBH I saw my nanny's details on the KiwiOz website and contacted the agency specifically about her, interviewed her the next day and she had the job - can't say they did much for me for their fee, but I wouldn't be without her.

I have just found a part time nanny using an agency (Occasional and Permanent). I advertised on nannyjob and greatcare and in The Lady but none of these came up with much that was suitable - I didn't want someone who didnt have English as a first language nor did I want someone with limited visa time here. I did look on gumtree but found it very hard to spot who might be right amongst the mass of people advertising. The agencies varied between truly hopeless and good. Imperial only sent me candidates who actually met the brief but they are eye wateringly expensive - 16% of annual salary - so in a way I was glad the nanny I liked rejected me in favour of a more glamerous job in Notting Hill. Eden Nannies come highly recommended by friends (despite the odd typo on their website) but don't do part timers. North London specialists include North London Nannies and Nanny Search - NLN sent me lots of CVs but NS were better at meeting the brief. As I had no flexibility at all on days and hours I couldn't find anything on local noticeboards, nannysharers etc which matched up. I spent about 3 solid weeks on the phone to agencies and interviewing and following up references. It was totally draining. Best of luck.