Nanny Share's History

How did the idea for a Nanny Share website come about?

Was a busy parent struck by a blinding flash of inspiration in between feeds and nappies? Or did a serial user of dating sites finally become a parent and realise that putting people together was about more than just romance?

The answer is a bit more boring I'm afraid. We blame British Airways. Back in 2004 there was an informal meeting between Ben Black and Lena Engel, the head of Early Years in Hounslow. There was no strict agenda but Ben was busy talking about how great nannies were and Lena was busy bemoaning the fact that within her "parish" there were hundreds of BA employees who worked atypical hours - finding childcare for them was both her department's responsibility and a nightmare. 

Everyone knows that finding a great nanny to work when you need them is the best and the most expensive of the childcare options. From there it was a small step to realise that if these parents could somehow share the costs of the childcare then that brilliant nanny solution suddenly became affordable...

We wish it had been a smooth journey since then... Initially the site was called SharingCare.co.uk. All kinds of Government departments were involved and supportive and the Daycare Trust under the inspirational leadership of Stephen Burke were fantastic supporters. But with all this official support we also had to make sure we catered for the official childcare market of nurseries and childminders and hence the slightly confused sounding "Sharingcare".
 
It wasn't until a chance meeting between two frustrated lawyers, Ben and Rachel Willits that the current business emerged and success finally arrived. Rachel's advice was was to concentrate on nannies and her input was to take over the management, marketing, strategy and running of the site. Since then it's been a lot more fun and a lot more successful.

More recently, former children's holiday club counsellor and web manager Justin Jeffries came on board to help with the management of the site. Justin realised that the site hadn't really been looked at with a fresh pair of eyes for awhile. And that's how we've arrived with the current look and feel.

The Nanny Share site has now helped over 10,000 parents find each other and find the affordable nanny solution they need. And nannysharing is now an established part of the childcare mix...