Legend/Chica Chico nursery in Ipswich-anyone else had problems?

[vonstrompler]

Hi,
I won't go into long winded details, but wondered if anyone else has had trouble with this nursery. We had issues with the level of care being provided for our 2 year old, and now we have taken him out we are having trouble setling our bill. They are intending to take a CCJ out against us because we won't pay a big overcharge.
Any comments gratefully received!

yes, i used to work for them!

My daughter used to go to their stowmarket nursery and if I knew where Mr Gibbs was I would sue him! The building had to be gutted after he closed because it failed fire regulations and had inadequate fire escapes. The place needed rewiring, doors replaced for health and safety reasons and there were bare live wires!
He owes us money that we foolishly had paid in advance before he shut the place down.

Luckily my daughter is now safe and very happy in her new nursery.
The same can't be said for the council who gave him a grant of 26k just before he closed the place down, bet they don't get that back.
He sent cheques to all the utility companies before he closed down and they all bounced. I heard that even the refuse company were refusing to collect the rubbish from the nursery! And let's not forget that he wasn't registered to pay any business rates on the property!
How Ofsted and mid suffolk district council allowed all of this to go unnoticed beggars belief. I am absolutely furious.

You are not alone in your feelings towards him. Staff weren't paid their wages and we are still awaiting our final owed monies nearly a year on from when this started. We were expected to continue our work with a smile on our faces and with the same love and care for the job and children as we always had not knowing if or when we would get paid or whether we had a job in the future.
For what its worth, staff on many occasions raised various issues within the nurseries regarding property, equipment and staffing and it all fell on deaf ears, I hope you do not feel the staff were in anyway to blame for this as I can assure you they did what they could for the families and children in their care.
Rumour has it he is in Ibiza running his new photographic business - and will hopefully get his comeuppance!

This sounds like something from a soap opera. Hope the dodgy Mr Gibbs (if that is indeed his name ... ) will be busted!

Whereabouts in Ipswich is the nursery? I'm about to start looking at Ipswich nurseries and want to make sure I avoid it!

While I'm at it, are you all on the Suffolk thread?

Hi paperdoll,
I am very impressed with all of the staff that took care for my little girl and am furious about the way you were all treated by this conman!
My daughter was well cared for and still talks fondly of the friends, both big and small she made there.
I just wish that the parents had been let in on what was going on sooner and may have been able to help before it all got out of hand.
The nursery used to have an excellant reputation which was why we used it despite driving past 4 others on the way to it. I feel that the parents were kept in the dark by the people we should have been able to trust though.

Staff built up good relationships with parents and at times friendships too. We hated not being able to say anything but were caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. Whilst we all agreed parents should have been told what was going on, we were also aware of what would happen if parents left in droves. We were kept in the dark too and were not told any future plans until they happened and really only stayed on in loyalty to the families - lets face it why else would you work 40+ hours a week when not being paid for months on end!
I personally felt I was betraying the parents who ultimately paid my wage but also let me into their families and share in their children's growing up.
Whilst I realise how truly horrible this was for the families it wasn't great for staff either and sometimes it felt very much 'staff Vs parents' when it should have been 'us all V's Mr Gibbs'

I have known Gibbs for a lot of years, and he has never been what you would call a genuine, friendly person - in fact far from it!!
I could not fault the stowmarket staff and I really feel sorry for them having to work for such a (lets say nasty person!)
I am now glad that I took my son away from the stowmarket branch knowing the place was falling down!! I am now starting legal proceedings against them as they owe me money and they keep disappearing off to different countries (clearly on our money!)
I am glad to know that I dont stand alone!!