Finding a nanny in your area

There are three ways to find a nanny – go by word of mouth, use an agency and advertise privately.

Word of Mouth

Often the best way of finding a nanny is to employ someone who has been recommended by a friend.  Speak to local nursery managers, see who runs the crèche at your local health club; investigate with local parent and toddler groups.  The best reassurance can often come from another local mother whose word you trust.

Using Agencies

If you are using an agency then you should follow these guidelines:

1.  make sure the agency you use insists on personal interviews and checks references

2.  make sure the agency is able to carry out its own checks with the Criminal Records Bureau (this will check against police records, the Department Of Education’s list of people banned from teaching and the Department of Health’s Protection of Children Act List)

3. Ideally also make sure it is a member of either REC (Recruitment and Employment Confederation) or ANA (the association of nanny agencies)

www.bestbear.co.uk is a great resource for finding agencies and can provide you with a list of recommended agencies near you. If you want a specific agency then Tinies Childcare is the only national one and also enjoys an excellent reputation.

www.tinies.com

Advertise Privately

If you have the time and you want to avoid the cost of using an agency then you can advertise privately.  Have a look at our job postings board. Once you're registered with us you can post your advert for free. We have lots of nannies visiting the site looking for jobs and the jobs board has already worked really well for many of our parents. Local papers and through local colleges may also be worth a try.

If you do recruit your nanny privately it is important that you carry out a full background check including a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check and obtain several references from previous employers. If you need any more help with this, do please get in touch.