Parents counting cost after nursery goes into liquidation

Uncategorised • 6th August 2014

Angry parents say they have been left out of pocket after two day-nurseries closed after going into liquidation.

Branches of WittsEnd Day Nursery in Warwick Road, Solihull, and The Courtyard, Barston, were shut down after being wound up at the High Court last Wednesday.

And parents were left without child care for a second time on Monday when the Warwick Road nursery opened under a new name – Solihull Childcare Ltd – but was closed by Ofsted the same morning because it had not been registered.

A spokesman for the Insolvency Service said: “The company had gone into liquidation. On July 21, the case was wound up at the High Court. The petitioners were the HMRC.

“We attended the premises on Wednesday, July 23 and closed down the two sites in Warwick Road and The Courtyard, Barston and terminated staff contracts.

“On Thursday, documents which contained any confidential information about the children were removed.

“On Monday, July 28, Solihull Childcare Ltd was closed by Ofsted because it was not Ofsted licensed.”

Parents said they had paid for a nursery place until the end of the month but have not received child care since last week.

“I am furious along with other parents – what do we do with our children now?” one said.

Another parent, who did not want to be named, added: “I have had no child care since Thursday but I’ve paid up until the end of the month, so I’m out of pocket.

“It’s distressing for me as a parent but also for my child. One minute I’m telling them they can’t go to nursery any more because it has closed, then it has re-opened and then closed again. We are being messed around. And for us to be out of pocket and to have received no warning about this, I think is appalling.”

A spokeswoman for Ofsted added: “The nursery should have gone through the correct registration process with Ofsted before it re-opened, despite the fact it was opening on the same site. The nursery was operating illegally because it had not been registered.”

No one from WittsEnd Day Nursery was available to comment.