Nursery World - Pulling power

There are many ways for nurseries to tackle falling occupancy levels. Paul Richards outlines his tried-and-tested solutions Falling occupancy is a real issue for nursery operators. With some providers struggling to achieve more than 70 per cent occupancy, and more children aged three to five heading into school-based provision, this situation is a threat to the viability of many private nurseries.

Falling occupancy is a real issue for nursery operators. With some providers struggling to achieve more than 70 per cent occupancy, and more children aged three to five heading into school-based provision, this situation is a threat to the viability of many private nurseries.

The three-month to five-year-old market has become a 12-month to three-year-old market. Given the required staff-to-child ratios, that makes for a tough way to make a living. It's often said that the profit for a nursery comes from the care of three- to five-year-olds because of the adult-to-child ratio of 1:8, but the number of children in this age group attending nursery is in decline.

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