For a significant proportion of parents with children below ‘school age’, looking after their child full time is not a practical option. Most parents making use of childcare provided by a third party will be doing so to enable them to return to employment or training. Some parents use nurseries as they believe some form of social structure outside the family home is an important precursor to school.

To follow is some information for those considering buying a children’s day nursery, about starting up a children’s day nursery and arranging a children’s day nursery mortgage and identifies some of the current market trends and some key trading issues.

Children’s day nurseries must be registered with the appropriate national statutory body.  In England, Ofsted then carry out checks and request references. However, registration requirements differ in each UK country. In Wales the regulatory body is CCSIW (Care and Social Services Incorporate Wales). In Scotland it’s SCRS (Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care).

The registered manager or supervisor of the Children’s day nurseryrequires mandatory qualifications. When buying a children’s day nursery, all nursery supervisors and managers must hold a Level 3 qualification and have at least two years experience working in a day care setting. At least half of all other staff must hold a Level 2 qualification.

Anyone starting up a children’s day nursery will also need training in general business and enterprise skills.  Nursery proprietors also have to provide a staff development and training programme for the manager and staff.

Some of the key current market issues affecting starting up a children’s day nurseries include:

• The Number of babies and children across the UK is at a record high. The average birth rate in England and Wales reached 1.95 children per woman in 2008, the highest since 1973.
• A report on the effect of the 2008/09 recession on nurseries published by the NDNA in October 09, showed that two-thirds of nursery owners reported they had seen more parents struggling financially and some had seen increasing levels of bad debt as parents struggled to pay fees. However, the majority of nursery owners said they were confident about the future of their business.
• A BBC investigation from May 2010 revealed there was a shortage of nursery places for children across Northern Ireland. An NDNA report in Scotland showed the majority of nurseries experiencing high demand from parents and three quarters of those questioned said their business was doing well.

The childcare sector and nursery sectors have come a long way in the past 20 years. There are thousands of single nursery outlets, many of which offer standards equal to those provided in the flagship units operated by  ‘Corporates’.

Over the last ten years, social changes in the structure of the family and life/work expectations of women mean there are now fewer ‘stay at home mums’.  Whether or not the state will continue to share the cost of childcare is yet to be seen. At the moment, the Government is promoting high quality preschool childcare but how can this be promoted without making it available to all, not just those who can fund it themselves?

If you’re starting up a children’s day nursery, be aware that not all nurseries will be successful. The chances of arranging a children’s day nursery mortgage and  running a successful nursery are currently greater in the more affluent areas of the country and this is likely to remain the case unless the state is able to provide significantly more in the way of funding for families of low economic means.

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