School hours care offered at price of half day's provision

Little Einstein's Nurseries, which has seven settings in Tayside and Glasgow, is trialling the initiative in three of its nurseries and may roll out it out to include the others if there is enough demand.

The cost of the Mini Day, which runs from 8am to 4pm, is the same price as half a day of provision at the setting at £25, rather than a full day, which costs £37. The price includes all food, snacks and nappies for children who require them.

Arti Poddar, managing director of Little Einstein's Nurseries, said, 'We recognise that childcare is a vital part of every working parent's budget and our offer, which is planned to run for a number of months, is aimed at easing their burden a little, while at the same time introducing parents and children to our facilities here at Little Einstein's.'

Since Little Einstein's introduced the Mini Day in the autumn, six families have taken up the offer so far.

Ms Poddar added, 'Every area that we cover has a different demographic, so we looked at which areas would benefit most from the Mini Day and then implemented it in those areas.

'We developed it to help parents who may be struggling in the current financial climate. It's obviously a difficult time for parents and the Mini Day is more affordable but still covers the main hours. We have printed leaflets to advertise the offer in the local areas and we hope that it may encourage some new families to use Little Einstein's as well.'

Little Einstein's offers a total of 502 places across its seven settings and employs 160 staff.