Nursery got new owners

Throbbe

Have you spoken to the new owners? Whatever the issue is, you may be pleasantly surprised.


Our childrens nursery changed hands a couple of times. On both occasions the new owners listened to our concerns and took action. The second time the changes lasted only a few weeks before things deteriorated again and being in a similar situation to yourself my wife went part time for two months until our youngest started school. however, if you don't talk to them, you'll never know.

warehouse

sarahevie1 wrote: »

The fees changing has just swayed the balance and I'm now thinking I should just move her, 33% increase to me isn't reasonable.

Nursery does bother me as I work full time so she attends Monday-Friday 8-6, 50 hours a week, so it has to be right for her and I'm not pleased with some of the new systems. I'm not sure its worth moving her when she is due to start full time school in September.

So I'm assuming £12 being a 33% increase means you pay £36 per day? That's £3.60 per hour currently, (or half minimum wage), to look after the most precious thing you'll ever own.

Childminders charge £5.50 per hour minimum around here so it sounds quite cheap. You'll also qualify for Government vouchers which is what, over £500 per month?

On a full time salary I honestly don't think you're being hard done by with the increase. It sounds like you had a bit of a bargain going on, maybe why the original owners found it unworkable?

haras_nosirrah

if you have been paying £37 a day for 10 hours you have had an absolute bargain

my sons nursery is £6 an hour so would be £60 a day

TBagpuss

You would need to look first at the original contract you did sign, to see what it says about price increases and notice to leave.
If it has specifc provisions (for instnace, saying that prics are reviewed at a specic date, then raise that with the nursery and ask that they honour the contract and not change the price until the next review date.

However, the contract probably says that either you r the nursery can end the arrangment y giving x amount of notice, so there would be nothing to stopthem giving you notice and (if they wanted to) then ofering a new cotnract with the new terms.

If the original contract says nothing about changes to prioce or notice then I would expect that in each case they would simply have to give 'reasonable notice' - a month does seem reasonable in the circumstances.

That said, there is nothing to stop you asking whether they are willin to phase in the change given that it is a substnatial one.

seven-day-weekend

newbie1980 wrote: »

where are you??

that would show wheither the new £48 a day is good or not as wages are different in london then newcastle for example

as others have said look round see what others charge. I pressume this is what the new owners have done and brought theres up to local prices

The agency I sometimes do pet-sitting for charge £29.50 a day for me to live in the customer's house and look after their animals, plus £10 a day Agency Fees.

So £48 a day for 50 hours at a nursery doesn't seem bad compared to that.

sarahevie1

I do get tax credits that pay towards it, however I earn £26,192 per year, after pension deductions, student loan I come out with £1565 per month so it is a huge amount of money.

My daughter's nursery is in Bradford which is a cheap part of the country. I chose to send her to a different local authority to where I live because it was cheaper, I also work close by. It was cheap, I was paying £32 a day and others close by were charging £35/£36. The new fees are £44 per day. So they are more than others in the area Bradford.

Nurseries close to my house charge £47 per day or £5.50 an hour, I've never said it wasn't cheap before, it's just a huge amount of money when you earn relatively little and you are a single parent with three children.

sarahevie1

I've spoken to after school club (my daughter attends school nursery every afternoon) and she's going to be starting there as soon as I can get out of my nursery contract.)She will be fine at afterschool club as she'll be with her friends from school and I'll be in the building next door.

She will stay at her private nursery for a half day and they drop her at school. So I will pay £28 at private nursery, plus £7 after school club, making it £35, £3 a day more expensive than what I currently pay but I find that increase more reasonable and manageable.

kingfisherblue

I'm not certain, but I think if there is a difference of more than £10 a week, and you receive tax credits for childcare, you are supoosed to inform HMRC. You may also need to tell them if you are using an additional provider. Posters on the benefits board should be able to confirm or deny this.

jiggy2

warehouse wrote: »

So I'm assuming £12 being a 33% increase means you pay £36 per day? That's £3.60 per hour currently, (or half minimum wage), to look after the most precious thing you'll ever own.

Childminders charge £5.50 per hour minimum around here so it sounds quite cheap. You'll also qualify for Government vouchers which is what, over £500 per month?

On a full time salary I honestly don't think you're being hard done by with the increase. It sounds like you had a bit of a bargain going on, maybe why the original owners found it unworkable?

what government vouchers would that be? if you mean childcare vouchers - you do know they come out of your salary and it is only the tax relief that is saved. The max is £243 per month

sarahevie1

kingfisherblue wrote: »

I'm not certain, but I think if there is a difference of more than £10 a week, and you receive tax credits for childcare, you are supoosed to inform HMRC. You may also need to tell them if you are using an additional provider. Posters on the benefits board should be able to confirm or deny this.

Yes you definitely do need to inform HMRC, you get 30 days to, but you can only inform them once a change has happened. So even though I know she will move on February 1st, I would not be able to tell tax credits until that date.

With three children starting school at different points I've had to inform them of changes in childcare arrangements fairly regularly in the last five years.