Parents left shocked as Castleford nursery closes 'with immediate effect'

Brambly Hedge Nursery at Three Lane Ends, Castleford, sent out an email to parents at 6.15pm on Friday, November 18, informing them that they would no longer be able to accommodate their children.

One parent, who didn't want to be named, said she was completely shocked and panicked by the private nursery’s email, which said the closure was due to its 'financial position'.

She said: "I couldn't believe it. To be told at 6.15pm that they would be closing, giving no notice at all, was unbelievable.

“Apparently, the staff weren’t even told until 5.30pm on Friday and many parents found out through posts on social media.

"It's just really shocking - especially given that the news was broken to parents so late on a Friday evening, meaning there wasn't much anyone could do to find a place for the Monday morning.

" And for parents who haven't the option to work from home and have to go out to work - it's not just an impact on you as a parent, but your job too."

The mum, whose three-year-old daughter has been attending the nursery since she was 18-months, said the private nursery probably had an estimated 70 children on its books, which all now have to find alternative childcare arrangements.

"There was no real explanation given in the email," she said. "It just basically said that due to their ‘financial position’ they were ceasing trading.

"Surely they would have been aware of the seriousness of the situation before leaving it that late in the day to tell staff and parents.

"It was such an lovely nursery, my daughter enjoyed it and the classroom staff were amazing.

“Her developmnet has come on immensley since she's been there - we've never had any issues."

Now she, like many other parents, are now struggling to find alternative childcare.

"There are some amazing nurseries that have said they have places, but they aren't local enough, which isn't really practical,” she said.

"Many parents are in the same position - struggling to find another place. And some of the nurseries are school-related, which means they don't cover school holidays.”

Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford MP Yvette Cooper said she has been contacted by parents about the closure, saying it’s devastating news.

She said: "The closure of Brambly Hedge nursery at Three Lane Ends is devastating news for parents and staff.

"It is a complete nightmare for families suddenly left without essential childcare and awful for staff to suddenly lose their jobs in the run up to Christmas.

"I am in touch with Wakefield Council and with parents to see what the council can do to find alternative childcare for families.

"I am also raising this urgently with the Department for Education as it’s clear that many other childcare providers are also being forced to close and child care policies are in total chaos, making things impossible for working parents.

"We need major reforms to sort this out as parents and staff at Brambly hedge shouldn't end up paying the price.”

The Director of Brambly Hedge Nursery, Rod Wakelin, said: "Private nurseries and childminders are facing an enormous battle to stay sustainable when this Government only allows Wakefield MDC the measly funding amounts of £4.41 per hour for a three-year-old and £5.49 per hour for a two-year-old.

"So it is hardly surprising that 4,300 childcare providers have gone out of business in the UK in the last 18 months.

"The Autumn term is always the most difficult as we all lose children who are ready for school-we tend to lose 45 children this way and although you have new starters for September it takes till the Spring term to catch up.

"During the last three years, the two of us have ploughed over £50,000 of our own money (not recoverable) to keep the nursery solvent, particularly in the Autumn term.

"This means it is a financial long haul to get through it and so we knew that as we came into November that again we would need to put in a large cash sum in to get us to January, when we would then receive a large chunk of funded money advanced to us for the Spring term.

"Our idea was that during the early part of November my wife would deposit £28,000 into the nursery with a view of repaying herself out of the large January funding we would receive.

"Our accountant then said under no circumstances as this would not be legal (accountants are always there to kill good ideas).

"So this came about in our final week-you are now insolvent and need to meet an insolvency company, which we did last Thursday for nearly two hours, who looked at all the circumstances and told us we needed to stop trading immediately-but he accepted that Friday could be our last day but after 6pm we had to have a staff meeting and email all parents that evening to advise them that we had now ceased trading with immediate effect, hence the impossibly short notice for parents.

"We had no choice, we financially could not afford to throw away another £28.000."