Nursery Fees - parents charged different rates

[DesignMamma]

Hi, I was looking at a private nursery before the lockdown for my child, before they were charging £55 a day, but due to covid we never signed up. I am looking to join now lock down is almost over, but recently they have been taken over by a chain (with some works been done to upgrade facilities) now they are asking for £88 a day. I know some mum's there are still being charged the cheaper amount as they joined before the nursery owner changed. Is this normal for different people to be paying different fees (I assume it is) but was wondering if people had any experience of this?

If it is privately owned there is no reason at all why they can't charge different rates to different people. They have no obligation to provide any service to anyone. They may well have a contractual agreement not to summarily raise fees for existing clients of the previous owner for a set period. Ultimately the value of any goods or services is the amount a willing purchaser is happy to pay. If they can fill the places at £88 per day then that is fine. If they can't find any takers they will have to drop their prices. Meanwhile you are at liberty to choose the provider whose prices and the level of service offered best matches your needs and means, so if £88 is too high for you then you'll need to look elsewhere.

Presumably they have a contract they need to honour with the original parents, so yes, entirely fair that they don't jack up those prices.

Yes it’s totally normal
Lots of companies do this, not just nurseries

Thank you for the comments, yes good point they might have contracts to honour, I guess if paying the higher end of £88 it opens up a more more child care services options for us not just this nursery, just something for us to consider. Does anyone have any pointers about nursery must haves? this one has a tiny outdoor area (no greenery / grass but tarmac - with play facitlies) apparently the kids spend a lot of time outside. Sorry for all the questions first time mum so this is all new to me.

Yes , as an childminder when I put up my fees it’s for new starters but existing clients stay on the original fees. Then gradually as the older clients leave everyone ends up on new rate

Yes, I'd think it's pretty normal as they have probably honoured the existing contracts to not lose their current families (I think I'd certainly leave if fees went up that much!).

As for your question, personally, no I wouldn't choose a nursery that had no grass outside to play on, unless you're in Central London and that just isn't an option anywhere.