A popular pre-school claims it has been forced out of business by the new National Living Wage, which comes into force today.
Parents have been left desperately searching for new places for their children – and staff left looking for new jobs – after Stepping Stones in Pinchbeck took the shock decision to close its doors for the last time ahead of the Easter break.
Manager Vicky Orange said it had been a “heart-wrenching” decision forced upon the committee by the coming rise in staff wages.
The National Living Wage is being brought in by the Government to ensure all workers aged over 25 receive at least £7.20 an hour.
But Vicky said the additional 50p an hour for the pre-school’s four staff is the “straw that breaks the camel’s back”.
She said: “With the annual rise in minimum wage and now this, our costs just keep going up and up but I can’t remember when the money we receive from the Government for the funded places we provide last went up.
“We just can’t make ends meet. Things have been getting harder since the last minimum wage rise last October but we finally decided three weeks ago that we could not carry on and had to tell the parents we were closing.
“I am gutted. I have worked here for seven years and all of the team are so dedicated and hard-working.
“We all loved this job and the children, but we just can’t afford to carry on.”
Vicky is now hoping to take a teaching assistant course and has secured a voluntary placement at Pinchbeck East Primary School.
She said two of the other staff had managed to get new jobs.
The pre-school, which used St Mary’s Church Hall as its base, had 24 children on its books when it closed, with just three vacancies.
Around three-quarters of the youngsters were “funded”, which meant the cost of their 15 hours a week at the pre-school was covered by the Government and there was no cost to their parents.
Vicky said the pre-school had been forced to increase the cost to fee-paying children in an attempt to balance the books, but it had not been enough to save Stepping Stones.
She said: “We had the Birth to Five organisation in to ask for their advice, but there really was nothing we could do.
“We were told that grants were available to pre-schools if there were no other settings within walking distance.
“Unfortunately for us there are two other settings in Pinchbeck, so we weren’t eligible, even though I don’t believe either of them have many, if any, available places.
“I think our closure is going to be a real problem for parents.
“Pinchbeck is continuing to grow all the time and there are just not enough places available.
“Also, I don’t believe we will be the last victims of the new Living Wage.
“It affects all small businesses, particularly ones such as childcare which are traditionally low paid.
“I have spoken to a number of other pre-school and nursery managers and many of them say they are struggling too.
“It is just a very sad situation.”
