I have a prospective parent coming to see me on wed morning. she is looking for childcare from september when baby will be 8 months, for 1.5 days a week. tbh i'm hoping she decides against me as i really want to keep the space for a full timer, but I can't keep the space open "just in case" iygwim.

If she does decide to go with me,what shall i charge for a retainer? I was thinking 1 months money to be returned at the end of the contract.

Does this sound ok? too much or not enough? bearing in mind 1 months money would be around £160.

That sounds fair to me - if you are not too bothered about getting the contract. Hope it works out for you whatever way you decide. :thumbsup:

What your describing is a deposit...which i would request to receive 1 month before the contract begins & is returnable at the end of the contract subject to 4 weeks notice been given & no outstanding arrears. i would request also one months retaining fee to cover the period of now to September this is non-refundable as it's for holding the place from now till then. IYSWIM?:)

I've just charged parents 2 weeks fees to keep the place till Sept but it was for 4 full days.

So your months fees sounds reasonable to me.

I didn't want to charge to much to scare them off but also I wanted to charge enough so if they paid the deposit/retainer they would definately take the place iykwim

Good luck Caroline for Weds

Carol xx

What your describing is a deposit...which i would request to receive 1 month before the contract begins & is returnable at the end of the contract subject to 4 weeks notice been given & no outstanding arrears. i would request also one months retaining fee to cover the period of now to September this is non-refundable as it's for holding the place from now till then. IYSWIM?:)

I can understand what you're saying but I don't have a place till sept anyway.

Oh...sorry i misunderstood! ...In which case what you've done sounds perfect!:)