Here at the MM HQ we really only post and share with our MMammmas things that we truly believe in and love!!! And we have sooo much love for both the company and the Director Lucia Borraccino, we could not wait to share the awesome NANNY NETWORKS with you guys, we are over 100% sure that every part time working/freelance/business start-up/shift/contract worker will feel like all their dreams have come at once whilst discovering this beautiful and life changing business. Check it out for yourself here
“Childcare can no longer be a barrier to women wanting to head back to work”
Nanny Network connects parents with local childcare and provides a wide range of services. The company will soon celebrate its third birthday and operates from Dalston in Hackney. Lucia Borraccino, the director of Nanny Network aims to provide parents not just withgood quality childcare but also practical childcare solutions.
Q. Childcare solutions? Please Explain:
L: After taking a break to have a child, mothers can often struggle to establish themselves back at work as available childcare isn’t substantial to suit. Most of our clients work in creative industries and this means non-conventional working hours which can make arranging childcare very tricky. Nanny Network provides unique solutions tailored to fit the individual needs of each family.
Q How do you source your Nannies and Babysitters?
L: Usually, most new candidates for our books come recommended to us in the first place from our Nannies and other parents. We always recruit in the local area – somebody who already knows the neighbourhood in which they work is very important. We have over two hundred Nannies on our books but this is still not enough !
Q: How do you screen each Nanny/Babysitter?
L : We are quite strict with who we allow on to our books – I have noticed that other agencies in London accept anyone on to their books and seem to just register candidates rather than interview them. Upon receiving a CV we conduct a telephone interview, then arrange a face-to-face interview. I have personally met each Nanny on our books and have an open minded approach to recruitment. We are always looking for a specific and special person – and not everybody cuts the mustard. After interview, we then take up three references from the Nanny – both written and verbal.
Q: What is the difference between a Nanny and a Babysitter?
L: Typically, a Nanny will work in the day and a Babysitter in the evening. A Nanny will turn up when you need to leave the house for work and stay as long as you need. We also offer after-school/nursery Nannies for parents. A Nanny is a great solution –unlike nursery where your child must fit in the routine of many other children – you can design the day of your Nanny to suit best for your child.
L: What about qualifications?
Q: All of our Nannies are CRB checked and have undertaken paediatric first aid training. Our Nannies are highly capable and intelligent young women and men - Most of our Nannies are degree educated and many have Masters. For us, the most important is a wealth of experience and glowing references. The problem with generic childcare qualifications is that they can be really easy to obtain and often these candidates do not have the experience or personality to boot. We work with a training partner – BabyEm – who provides specific training for Nannies such as maternity nursing or ‘caring for multiples.’ We are yet to have a Norland trained Nanny on our books but we are hopeful !
Q: So you have men on your books?
L: Currently, just one, but I am hoping to have more really soon. We are a modern childcare agency – and male Nannies (known as ‘Mannies’) are just as good as female ones. Male Nannies don’t typically work withnewborns but they can be just as good childcare providers as women.
Q: Do your Nannies speak other languages ?
L: Being trilingual myself, I know how important it is to give children the opportunity at an early age to keep up their language skills. Many of the parents who use us request a specific language and we have many bilingual Nannies on our books including Mandarin, Spanish, French, Swedish and Japanese speakers.
It is really important that our Nannies have a good level of English so that they can communicate well with the children as well as parents.
Q: Who is your favourite Nanny on the books?
L: I am not allowed to have favourites that would be really unfair and I would not be a good boss ! We employ Nannies who not only have the correct experience, but who are hardworking, reliable, diligent, organised, capable, polite, smart, tidy and absolutely wonderful with children. All the Nannies on our books are 5* and they are all my favourite.
Q: Have you had any celebrity clients?
L: Yes, quite a few and obviously I am not allowed to disclose any information about this except to say we offer a simple and discreet service for everybody.
Q: I hear you offer an emergency childcare service? What is this?
L: We do indeed and this really keeps us on our toes! It is designed so you can call on us at the very last minute for any emergency. For example, we worked with a woman who needed to be on stage and an hour before her childcare fell through so we sent around one of our‘supernannies’ in a flash. Our record is a mum who called us at 10am and had one of our Nannies knocking on the door at 10.30am. We can’t promise this speed each time but can do our best.
Q: This all sounds too good to be true! How many of you in the office?
L: Actually it is just me at the moment ! I started the company entirely alone with no funding or investment but have reached a stage of growth so I am now looking to hire some office help as I am really struggling with the current work load. I haven’t turned off my phone for the past three years – I am sure it is going to self combust at any point soon ! I have booked a holiday for the new year it is really time to take a proper break - You become really inefficient if you work flat out.
Bootstrap Stories #11 Lucia Borraccino from Bootstrap Stories on Vimeo.