Earlier this month the Government announced that the minimum wage for employees aged 22 and above would rise to 5.05 an hour in October, up from Pounds 4.85. The rate for 18- to 21-year-olds will rise to 4.25 an hour, up from 4.10 an hour.
Kim Welsh, owner of Springboard Nurseries, a group of four settings in Bournemouth, said that the rise would 'impact fairly substantially'.
Although Ms Welsh pays all her staff above the adult minimum wage, she said there would be an inevitable 'knock-on effect'. Her fees will rise by 6 per cent, partly to take account of the increase. She said, 'You can't push fees up too much because you would price yourself out of the market. It eats into our profit margins, because you can't push all the costs on to parents.
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