Nurseries fill vacancies at short notice

Emergencychildcare.co.uk, set up by recruitment company Tinies, is now available across the country following a successful pilot in south London, and several nursery chains, including Asquith Court, Teddies, the Childcare Corporation and Happy Child have signed up to the scheme.

Director Ben Black said, 'Emergencychildcare.co.uk has proved to be a simple way for nurseries to increase revenue by occupying otherwise vacant nursery spaces. As individual nurseries are in control of the prices and number of spaces, it gives them the freedom to utilise the service as much or as little as they want.'

Parents can log on to the website or phone the service on 0870 7003131.

They register details of their children and can check nurseries in their local area for availability and then book a place.

Mel Chacksfield, manager of Asquith Court's nursery in Battersea, which was involved in the pilot, said, 'It's a very simple process for parents to log on to the site and because we tightly manage the available spaces, they can come in on the day.'

Parents are advised to visit the nursery they have booked to meet the manager. They are also sent a guide on how to make the transition for their child as stress-free as possible. Ms Chacksfield said that children being placed in her nursery under the scheme had had no difficulty in settling in.

She said that Asquith Court now had 100 nurseries linked to the scheme and that her nursery had taken 14 bookings in a month, which had helped to boost occupancy.

A corporate website goes live this week enabling companies to participate in the scheme, and childminders are expected to join from June. As the largest nanny agency in the UK, Tinies already operates a scheme to provide nannies on an emergency basis.