Thinking of relocating to Milton Keynes

[bec258]

Looking for some advice, and hopefully local info. We currently live in west London, in an area saturated with childminders. I was out of work for six months last year after registering, and am only now finally anywhere near filling my places. Rent prices are moving out of our league, and we could never buy, so we're considering moving to MK. I'm looking for a bit of advice on relocating generally- eg is it worth advertising before moving etc, and more specifically for the area. Is there much work? Is it a friendly childminding area etc. Any help gratefully received!

[rickysmiths]

Can't advise about MK but do bear in mind when moving it could take months to get mindees on board again.

9 years ago I moved 10 miles from NW London to SW Hertfordshire and even with 10 years as a cm under my belt and bringing one mindee with me it still took a goo year to get anywhere near full.

[jackie 7]

Choose the time you move carefully. I moved from nw London to St. Albans during the riots. I was lucky as a friend had found me a client. If I had moved 2 months earlier i might have had more clients. You need enough money for several months rent etc. I am not full yet as parent decided to use a nursery and I had turned down clients. I am so happy to have moved.

[Bennie]

Looking for some advice, and hopefully local info. We currently live in west London, in an area saturated with childminders. I was out of work for six months last year after registering, and am only now finally anywhere near filling my places. Rent prices are moving out of our league, and we could never buy, so we're considering moving to MK. I'm looking for a bit of advice on relocating generally- eg is it worth advertising before moving etc, and more specifically for the area. Is there much work? Is it a friendly childminding area etc. Any help gratefully received!

Milton Keynes is a massive place, I would think It would depend where in mk you moved to.

[TAZ]

When we moved we had so much to do sorting out the house (initially the playroom was floor to ceiling with boxes) & getting 3 children settled into school that I would not have been able to childmind immediatly. So depends on what you're moving to as to whether you'd be able to take on mindees straight away or need a few weeks / months to get sorted & therefore when to start advertising. You will also need to inform Ofsted of your new address, potentially they may want to come out to inspect your new place - although this was not the case forme (Been here 2.5 yrs and not been inspected)

[Zoomie]

I live in Bedford, about 15 miles away.

MK is a large place, so you really need to know what the situation is in the specific area that you want to move to.

I have noticed a cm, on childcare.co.uk, who stated that she was currently living in nw london but was moving to my town on a certain date, so I can't see any harm in advertising in this way. But I don't know whether this cm actually got any work (or in fact ever actually moved).

My advise would be to act as a prospective parent and make enquiries about childcare in specific areas and then chat to the cms (come clean after the initial enquires though) about the true state of the cm market where they live.

[bec258]

Thanks so much for all the replies. It's a massive step, so I really want to go into it with my eyes wide open. In an ideal world (as if!), we'll move to somewhere with a garage so that I can just unpack the essentials and be able to start work quickly, then unpack the rest as we go (a few weeks...months....years....down the line). Being withouj work for a long time would be a massive problem, but not as bad if we stretched ourselves stupidly here to get a 3 bed rental.
There's so much to think of, with housing, schools, work etc. It's definitely going to take a lot more research.

[SammySplodger]

I grew up just outside MK in a village (now fast being swallowed up by MK) and my parents still live there so keep in touch. I moved away years ago and now live in Sussex.

It is massive and has some huge sprawly areas / estates where you'd struggle to find people with much money for childcare. BUT there are also some select pockets (eg: where some of the original villages are and posher estates), where I think you would get more business.

I grew up in Aspley Guise - which is now seen as a bit posh - although that wasn't the case in the 1970s! Woburn Sands is close by and Woburn. It all depends on how far your 'London Money' will go in terms of property price I guess.

Other places to look at locally: Willen, Milton Keynes Village & Olney. Will ask M&D next time I speak to them for their thoughts.

Good luck!

[SammySplodger]

Do you have a partner / Hubbie and if so what line of work are they in? Loads of big companies located in MK and brilliant transport links (train to London and up North, M1).