Q. What policy do other settings have on reserving a nursery place? Is it acceptable to ask for a holding deposit, and should this be returned when the child starts attending? I don’t want to deter new families but also am fed up with people not taking up places.
Paul Tucker, operations manager, ABC Nursery, Oxford
‘Our 64-place nursery was hit hard by Covid-19. We’ve been operating for 25 years, but from September 2020 we had zero children and had to build up the business again. As a result, we put a system in place whereby prospective parents must book a nursery visit via our online system within a week of getting in touch. If, after the visit, they want to reserve a place for their child, they pay a non-refundable £50 deposit. That puts them on a waiting list for a guaranteed place, but not a guaranteed start date.
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